Together Responding North Korea's Ballistic Missile Launch, United States And South Korea Launch ATACMS

South Korea's ATACMS missile launch. (Source: South Korean JCS)

JAKARTA - South Korea and the United States military fired missiles into the sea, in response to North Korea's launch of a ballistic missile over Japan, Seoul said on Wednesday.

Nuclear-armed North Korea conducted a further test of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) than ever before on Tuesday, sending it over Japan for the first time in five years and prompting warnings for residents there to take cover.

South Korean and American forces conducted their own missile drills in response, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Wednesday.

"Each side fired a pair of US-made ATACMS short-range ballistic missiles," according to a statement.

"The missile precisely hit the mock target and demonstrated the ally's ability to prevent further provocations," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, citing the Korea Times.

Yesterday, the allies held an aerial exercise at a later date and South Korean F-15K warplanes fired two Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) at a firing range on the Yellow Sea island, in response to North Korea's initial missile launch.

Separately, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the North Korean test. Meanwhile, the European Union called it a "reckless and deliberately provocative act."

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the launch and said it was a violation of Security Council resolutions.

The United States asked the UN Security Council to meet to discuss the North Korean launch on Wednesday, but diplomats say China and Russia oppose discussions by the 15-member body.