South Korean missile launch. File photo SEUL, May 25 The South Korean military, along with their American counterparts, fired two missiles in response to another DPRK missile test on Wednesday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Republic of Korea said. On the morning of May 25, the DPRK conducted three launches ballistic missiles towards the Sea of Japan, all of them were carried out from the Sunan region in Pyongyang at about 6.00, 6.37 and 6.42 local time (0.00, 0.37 and 0.42 Moscow time). «Our army in response to today's provocation by North Korea … conducted exercises Elephant Walk, as well as launches of missile units of South Korea and the United States,» the message says. It is reported that one of the launched missiles was the South Korean «Hyeonmu-2», the second was a missile of the American tactical missile system ATACMS. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the launches demonstrated the «offensive ability» of the combined armed forces of the United States and South Korea to deter «further provocations» from the DPRK. The exact launch time is not indicated. At the same time, the Elephant Walk exercises, in which about 30 F-15K fighters were involved, took place in advance, on May 24, as the military detected the DPRK's preparations for missile launches. In March of this year, the South Korean military already conducted these exercises to demonstrate their military capabilities after the launch of ICBMs by North Korea on March 24. «This time, our demonstration of military force showed … our will to resolutely respond to any provocation by North Korea, including the launch of ICBMs,» — the military said in a statement. This is the DPRK's 17th missile test since the beginning of the year, including launches of ICBMs, a ballistic missile for submarines, systems for a space satellite and a new tactical system for nuclear weapons.
The US military commented on North Korean missile launches
