South Korea's armed forces on Tuesday denounced North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch, warning that it will face "resolute" retaliation if it remains bellicose.
The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff noted that it was the North's 13th ballistic missile fired this year. Furthermore, the latest one flew over Japan.
It's a "blatant violation" of the UN Security Council resolution against Pyongyang and a grave provocation that threatens the peace and stability of the world, Army Col. Roh Jae-cheon, the JCS spokesman, said in a statement.
 |
(Yonhap) |
The South and the United States will retaliate resolutely against any additional provocations, he added.
On the missile fired earlier in the day, defense officials here said it seems like a mid-range ballistic missile.
The launch was immediately detected by South Korea's surveillance assets, such as an Aegis warship operating in the East Sea and the Air Force's Peace Eye early warning aircraft, they said.
The North appears to be trying to show off its capability of striking major US military facilities in Japan and Guam, and protesting the allies' combined military exercise, called Ulchi Freedom Guardian, a JCS official told reporters. (Yonhap)
