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South Korea conducted air-to-surface missile tests after Kim Jong Un fired a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles in its direction on Wednesday.
What Happened: Seoul military said its fighter jets fired three precision-guided missiles in response to Pyongyang launching more than 10 missiles of various kinds off its eastern and western coasts, reported The Associated Press.
“The North Korean missile launch is very unusual and unacceptable as it fell close to South Korean territorial waters south of the Northern Limit Line for the first time” since the peninsula was divided, Kang Shin Chul, director of operations for South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff, told media.
In an earlier statement, the JCS said one of the missiles landed 16 miles away from the rivals’ sea border.
This came hours after Kim’s country issued warnings to the U.S. and South Korea and threatened to use nuclear weapons to get them “pay the most horrible price in history.”
Pak Jong Chon, a secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party and a close confidant of Kim, said, “If the U.S. and South Korea attempt to use armed forces against [North Korea] without any fear, the special means of the [North Korean] armed forces will carry out their strategic mission without delay.”
Early Tuesday, North Korea also issued warnings of powerful action against the U.S. if it did not halt joint military drills with South Korea.
Washington and Seoul started their joint air drills this week, which will run through Friday. Known as “Vigilant Storm,” it involves about 240 aircraft in about 1,600 sorties to “hone their wartime capabilities.”
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Image and article originally from www.benzinga.com. Read the original article here.