Allies fire 4 missiles into East Sea in response to N. Korea’s provocation: military

SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Yonhap) — South Korea and the United States fired four ground-to-ground missiles into the East Sea on Wednesday in joint drills, a day after North Korea’s intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) launch, according to the South’s military.

The two sides each launched two Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles, which precisely hit mock targets and demonstrated the allies’ capability to deter further provocations, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

On Tuesday, the North fired an IRBM from Mupyong-ri in its northern province of Jagang in its first launch of an IRBM in eight months. It flew around 4,600 kilometers over Japan and landed in the Pacific.

In response, the allies held air drills later in the day and a South Korean F-15K fighter fired two Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) at a firing range on a Yellow Sea island.