After North Korean test: USA and South Korea launch missiles

Created: 05/10/2022, 00:42

South Korean Air Force F-15K fighter jets and US Air Force F-16 fighter jets fly in formation during a joint exercise.

© -/South Korea Defense Ministry/AP/dpa

For the first time in five years, a North Korean missile flew over Japan on Tuesday.

The rocket test caused sharp criticism.

Now the USA and South Korea are reacting.

Seoul - A day after the latest North Korean missile test, the US and South Korea fired missiles in the region themselves.

South Korea's military said the US and South Korea fired four surface-to-surface missiles toward the Sea of ​​Japan (East Sea) in response to North Korea's provocation.

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 of the Seoul-based Asan Institute, there is also currently a "very high probability" that North Korea could conduct a nuclear weapons test later this 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.

dpa