North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea (Sea of Japan) on Wednesday, Seoul’s military said, according to Yonhap News Agency.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from the Sunan area in Pyongyang between 3:30 a.m. (18:30 Tuesday GMT) and 3:46 a.m., and they flew some 550 km before splashing into the sea.
“Our military will maintain a firm readiness posture based on capabilities to respond overwhelmingly to any North Korean provocations,” the JCS was quoted as saying.
The presidential office held a security monitoring meeting led by Deputy National Security Adviser Lim Jong-deuk, according to a presidential official.
The missile launch came after South Korea and the US held the inaugural meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group in Seoul the previous day to bolster the US’ extended deterrence commitment to using the full range of its military capabilities to defend its ally.
The meeting coincided with the arrival of USS Kentucky at a key naval base in Busan, 320 km southeast of Seoul, marking the first port visit by an American nuclear-capable strategic submarine since USS Robert E. Lee in March 1981.
Pyongyang test fired a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on July 12.
Source: Kuwait News Agency