The South Korean and US militaries fired a volley of missiles into the sea in response to North Korea firing a ballistic missile over Japan, Seoul said Wednesday, reports BSS.
North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years on Tuesday, prompting Tokyo to issue evacuation warnings for some residents.
South Korea and the United States staged a drill of their own in response, firing ground-to-ground missiles into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, Seoul's military claimed.
Both militaries fired two ATACMS short-range ballistic missiles into the water "to precisely strike a virtual target," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The drills "showed the ability and readiness to neutralise the origin of the provocation while maintaining a constant monitoring posture," it said in a statement.
The military also confirmed that a South Korean missile failed soon after it was launched and crashed, without causing any casualties.
On Tuesday, South Korean and US fighter jets had carried out a bombing drill at a target in the Yellow Sea.
The drills aim to "make sure that we have the military capabilities at the ready to respond to provocations by the North if it comes to that," US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN.
"It shouldn't come to that. We have made it clear to Kim Jong Un we're willing to sit down with no pre-conditions. We want to see the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula," he said.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
