A day after the latest North Korean missile test, the US and South Korea fired missiles themselves in the region. The South Korean military announced on Wednesday (local time) that in response to North Korea’s provocation, the United States and South Korea fired four surface-to-surface missiles in the direction of the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
On Tuesday, Pyongyang fired a medium-range ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan. It was the first time a North Korean missile had flown over the Japanese archipelago in almost five years. Both the US and NATO sharply condemned the test. In direct response, South Korean forces fired two precision bombs in the Yellow Sea. In addition, flight maneuvers were held together with US F-16 fighter jets.
The Yellow Sea is bordered by China and the Korean Peninsula. The last time North Korea launched a missile over Japan in 2017, the country conducted a nuclear weapons test just days later. According to North Korea expert Go Myong Hyun from the Seoul-based Asan Institute, the probability is currently also “very high” that North Korea could conduct a nuclear weapons test by the end of the month. UN resolutions prohibit North Korea from testing ballistic missiles of any range, which, depending on the design, can also carry a nuclear warhead. Most recently, North Korea had tested two short-range ballistic missiles on Saturday – that was the fourth missile launch in a week.