North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Wednesday, Seoul's military said, after the arrival of a U.S. nuclear ballistic missile submarine here and the inaugural session of a new South Korea-U.S. security dialogue.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from the Sunan area in Pyongyang between 3:30 a.m. and 3:46 a.m., and they flew some 550 kilometers before splashing into the sea.
The JCS condemned the launches as "acts of significant provocation" that harms peace not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in the international community, and as a "clear" violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
"Our military will maintain a firm readiness posture based on capabilities to respond overwhelmingly to any North Korean provocations," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.
The missile launch came after South Korea and the United States held the inaugural meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) in Seoul the previous day to bolster the U.S.' extended deterrence commitment to using the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear weapons, to defend its ally.
The meeting coincided with the arrival of USS Kentucky at a key naval base in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, marking the first port visit by an American nuclear-capable strategic submarine (SSBN) since USS Robert E. Lee in March 1981.
Pyongyang test fired a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on July 12.
Source: Yonhap News Agency