South Korea conducts large-scale military exercises

The drill comes days after Pyongyang announced its third nuclear test.

On February 14, South Korea conducted large-scale military exercises and launched a new cruise missile capable of hitting any target on North Korean territory.

“We no longer hide it and openly declare: If the imperialists have nuclear weapons, we must have them, and if they have intercontinental ballistic missiles, we must have them too,” North Korean daily Rodong Sinmun wrote in an editorial published on February 14.



South Korea's Defense Ministry released images of a missile test from a warship on February 14.
- Photo: AFP

Earlier, all South Korean political parties put aside their differences on domestic issues to pass a unanimous resolution condemning North Korea's nuclear test. The South Korean Navy has also been ordered to deploy destroyers and submarines off the country's eastern coast to check combat readiness.

Another naval exercise began in the western seas on February 13, and on February 15 there will be live-fire exercises involving missile and artillery forces on the border with North Korea. Meanwhile, the US military, which has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, will conduct air exercises and test the ability to mobilize fighter jets from both countries.

Also on February 14, the South Korean Defense Ministry released a 50-second video showing two of the country's cruise missiles hitting targets after being fired from a South Korean submarine and a destroyer. This is the first time the South Korean military has publicly announced the deployment of these missiles, which have a range of up to 800km.

“Our cruise missiles displayed today are precision-guided weapons that can hit a window in North Korea from any location on the Korean peninsula,” Yonhap news agency quoted South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min Seok as saying.

On the same day, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan Jin visited the Missile Command and the Agency for Defense Development, the units responsible for developing the above ballistic missile.

According to Tuoitre - DT