North Korea recently fired a nuclear missile – its sixth such test ever – and in response, South Korea on Monday practiced firing missiles in the event of an attack from North Korea.
South Korea fired several missiles into the Sea of Japan. The mock bombing drills involved F-15 fighter jets dropping ballistic missiles on a test site “to send a strong warning to North Korea for its sixth nuclear test,” according to a Washington Post report.
“As if to underline Seoul’s willingness to be tough, the South Korean military conducted bombing drills at dawn Monday, practicing ballistic missile strikes on the North Korean nuclear test site at Punggye-ri,” the Post reported. “The South Korean military calculated the distance to the site and practiced having F-15 jet fighters accurately hit the target, the joint chiefs of staff said Monday morning.”
North Korea is quickly becoming the black sheep of the international community, as it recently tested its most powerful nuclear missile yet – and the nation led by dictator Kim Jong Un now says it has more “gift packages” for the United States.
This comes after South Korea has also warned that North Korea has another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICMB) that it will fire.
North Korea’s sixth nuclear missile test caused a 6.3 earthquake and was roughly five times as large as the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan. The test came hours after North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un claimed that it now had an H-bomb to put onto its long-range ICBMs.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said Monday that North Korea is “begging for war,” and that it’s time for the international community to impose the strongest possible sanctions against North Korea.
President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted: “The United States is considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea.”
After North Korea’s missile test on Sunday, President Trump also tweeted: “South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!”
(Twitter)
President Trump has in the past criticized South Korea for not being tough enough on North Korea.
On Sunday night, South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s office released a statement: “South Korea is a country that experienced a fratricidal war. The destruction of war should not be repeated in this land,” it said, according to the Post. “We will not give up and will continue to push for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through peaceful means working together with our allies.”
