South Korea, US launch missiles after North Korea test

Brussels, Oct 05: South Korea and the United States fired four missiles into the Sea of Japan, Seoul said on Wednesday, a day after North Korea launched an intermediate-range missile over Japan for the first time in five years.

The two countries each fired a pair of US-made ATACMS short-range ballistic missiles, according to a statement.

The South Korean military said the launches were a retaliation to Pyongyang's farthest-ever missile test. South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol had previously vowed a "stern response" against the North.

Separately, South Korea also launched a Hyunmoo-2 missile that malfunctioned shortly after launch and crashed, causing panic in the city of Gangneung. There were no reports of injuries.

Military drills ramp up

The missile launches come just over a month after Seoul and Washington kicked off the biggest joint military exercise in the region in years.

Earlier on Tuesday, a South Korean F-15K fighter jet dropped two precision bombs on a virtual target on the uninhabited Yellow Sea island of Jikdo as part of a drill with US forces.

The joint exercise was intended to demonstrate the allies' "capabilities to conduct a precision strike at the origin of provocations," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff added.

Source: DW