Korea — The United States and South Korea fired four missiles off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula Wednesday morning local time, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The test was the allies’ second exercise in less than 24 hours, after a provocative test-firing Tuesday morning by neighboring North Korea, which launched a ballistic missile without warning over Japan in a major escalation of its weapons testing program.
The United States and South Korea initially responded to the provocation with a precision bombing exercise on Tuesday, which involved a South Korean F-15K fighter that fired air-to-surface munitions at a hypothetical target in a firing range west of the Korean Peninsula, according to South Korea’s joint chiefs.
Allies usually respond to North Korea’s missile tests with military exercises.
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A statement by South Korean joint leaders said Wednesday’s launch included four ATACMS missiles. Also known as the Army’s Tactical Missile Systems, these weapons are surface-to-surface missiles that can fly up to 200 miles (320 kilometers).
According to John Kirby, the National Security Council’s Coordinator for Strategic Communications, the launch was designed to demonstrate that the United States and its allies have “military capabilities on standby to respond to northern provocations.”
“This isn’t the first time we’ve done this in response to North provocations to make sure we can demonstrate our own capabilities,” Kirby told CNN’s Pamela Brown in “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”
“We want to see the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and (North Korean leader Kim Jong Un) has shown no inclination to move in that direction, and quite frankly he is moving in the opposite direction by continuing to conduct these missile tests which are violations of the decisions of the Council of Ministers. Security “.
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