South Korea and the US early yesterday said that they fired eight surface-to-surface missiles off South Korea’s east coast, responding to a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles launched by North Korea on Sunday.
The action is a demonstration of “the capability and readiness to carry out precision strikes” against the source of North Korea’s missile launches, or the command and support centers, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency cited the South Korean military as saying.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office last month, has vowed to take a tougher line against North Korea, and agreed with US President Joe Biden at a summit in Seoul last month to upgrade joint military drills and their combined deterrence posture.
Photo: Reuters
This year, North Korea has conducted a flurry of missile launches, and Yoon said that its missile and nuclear weapons programs have reached a level at which they pose a threat to regional and world peace.
South Korea “will continue to build fundamental and practical security capabilities and deter the North’s nuclear and missile threats,” Yoon told an event for South Korea’s Memorial Day.
The militaries of South Korea and the US fired eight surface-to-surface missiles in about 10 minutes starting at 4:45am yesterday in response to the eight missiles fired by North Korea on Sunday, Yonhap reported.
An official from the South Korean Ministry of Defense said that eight Army Tactical Missile Systems had been fired.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said the exercise included one US Army missile and seven from South Korea.
“The ROK-US Alliance remains committed to peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and throughout the Indo-Pacific region,” it said in a statement, using the initials of South Korea’s official name.
North Korea’s short-range ballistic missiles, fired toward the sea off its east coast on Sunday, were probably its largest single test, and came a day after South Korea and the US ended joint military drills.
The South Korea-US bilateral exercises involved a US aircraft carrier for the first time in more than four years.
Japan and the US also conducted a joint military exercise on Sunday in response to the latest North Korea missile tests.
North Korea, which is several weeks into battling its first known outbreak of COVID-19, has criticized previous joint drills as an example of Washington’s continued “hostile policies” toward Pyongyang, despite its talk of diplomacy.
Yonhap, citing an unidentified source, said North Korea’s volley on Sunday was launched from four locations, including Sunan in the capital, Pyongyang.
Ewha University international studies professor Leif-Eric Easley said that South Korea’s missile defenses are insufficient against the expanding North Korean threat.
“This calls not only for further investments in hardware, but also a more multilayered approach coordinated with Japan and diplomatic efforts with Beijing to reduce arms race dynamics with Pyongyang,” Easley said.
North Korea continued with its trend of not reporting on missile launches in state media, which some analysts have said is meant to show the tests are part of routine military drills.
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