A TV screen showing a news program reporting about North Korea’s missile launch with file footage, is seen at a railway station in Seoul. North Korea fired a mid-range ballistic missile on October 4, which flew over Japan, Seoul and Tokyo.
Kim Jae-Hwan | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
South Korea and the U.S. military fired a volley of missiles into the sea in response to North Korea’s launch of a ballistic missile over Japan, Seoul said on Wednesday, as Pyongyang’s longest-range test yet drew international condemnation.
Nuclear-armed North Korea test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile farther than ever before on Tuesday, sending it soaring over Japan for the first time in five years and prompting a warning for residents there to take cover.
South Korean and American troops staged a missile drill of their own in response, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Wednesday.
Each side fired a pair of U.S.-made ATACMS short-range ballistic missiles, according to a statement.
The military separately confirmed that a South Korean Hyunmoo-2 missile failed shortly after launch and crashed, but caused no casualties.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned North Korea’s test in the “strongest terms,” the European Union called it a “reckless and deliberately provocative action”, and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the launch and said it was a violation of Security Council resolutions.