As has become custom, shortly after North Korea engages in some provocative activity, in this case its first ever hyrdogen bomb test, South Korea has traditionally responded with its own military drill, and today was no difference, with Yonhap reporting"that South Korea"s military said Monday it conducted a combined live-fire exercise targeting North Korea"s nuclear test site."
To be sure, it"s not exactly clear how a "drill" can "target" a foreign military site, but we"ll assume someone just used Google translate in this case.
As Yonhap adds, the training came in response to the North"s sixth nuclear test a day earlier, and involved the country"s Hyunmoo ballistic missile and the F-15K fighter jets.
In the drill, the Hyunmoo surface-to-surface missile and the F-15K"s long-range air-to-ground missile accurately hit designated targets in the East Sea, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The South"s military, in particular, said the range to the simulated targets were set in consideration of the North"s Punggye-ri nuclear test site in its northeastern province.
The Hyunmoo was unveiled for the first time one week ago, when South Korea released the following video clip showing the test-firing of the 500-kilometer-range ballistic missile.
Just hours after North Korea fired a ballistic missile across Japan, South Korea has released footage of its testing of a new ballistic missile, in a show of "overwhelming force."
While The White House has yet to respond to North Korea"s provocation, South Korea"s Blue House has stated that:
"We are considering the development of strategic assets in the US and we will consult with the United States."
US strategic weapons include B-1B strategic bombers, B-52 long-range nuclear bombers, stealth fighters, Aegis destroyers, and nuclear propulsion submarines.
But not wanting to rely solely on Trump, Yonhap reports the release of the following 86-second-long video clip showing the test-firing of a 500-kilometer-range ballistic missile with improved warhead power and that of another one with a range of 800 km.
The footage shows the missile being fired and accurately hitting mock targets on the ground and in the water.
It was released by the state-run Agency for Defense Development (ADD)...
"We conducted the last flight test on the 24th to deploy the new 500-km ballistic missile and the 800-km ballistic missile, which are being developed under the leadership of the National Defense Science Institute."
"We are building a Korean three-axis system to respond to North Korea"s threats. To achieve this, we have developed a new ballistic missile (BM) with increased range and increased accuracy through diversification of warheads and improved accuracy. "
The 500-kilometer ballistic missile is "a new type of ballistic missile capable of accurately penetrating and destroying all of North Korea"s core facilities and is a key force in mass retaliation."
Confirming a Friday report by David Wright, physicist and co-director of the UCS Global Security Program, that the newest North Korean ICBM - which on Friday night flew for 45 minutes, reaching an altitude of up to 3,725 kilometers and traveled just under 1,000 kilometers before landing in Japan waters - can strike half the major metro areas on the continental US, overnight North Korea"s leader Kim Jong-Un said that “we have demonstrated our ability to fire our intercontinental ballistic rocket at any time and place and that the entire U.S. territory is within our shooting range.”
Quoted by the Korean Central News Agency, he also expressed his “great satisfaction” with the ICBM test - the country"s second after an earlier test on July 4 - which reaffirmed that the missile was able to deliver a “large-sized, heavy nuclear warhead" to the United States. The test was part of the "final verification" of the Hwasong-14 missile’s technical capabilities, including its maximum range.
As a reminder, Wright"s calculations showed that the ICBM could have a range 10,400 km (6,500 miles), not taking into account the Earth’s rotation, which if added would increase the range of missiles fired eastward. And, calculating the range of the missile in the direction of some major US cities gives the approximate results in Table 1, which showed that Los Angeles, Denver, and Chicago appear to be well within range of this missile, and that Boston and New York may be just within range while Washington, D.C. is just out of range.
Melissa Hanham, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California, confirmed the findings saying that the test showed North Korea is now capable of hitting U.S. cities such as Denver or Chicago.
Also on Saturday, Kim said the test was a “serious warning” to the US, which has been “meaninglessly blowing its trumpet” in threatening Pyongyang.
In response, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement that "as the principal economic enablers of North Korea’s nuclear weapon and ballistic missile development program, China and Russia bear unique and special responsibility for this growing threat to regional and global stability." He added that even as the US seeks a peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Tillerson said, “we will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea nor abandon our commitment to our allies and partners in the region.”
In a late Friday statement from the White House, Trump rejected North Korea"s claims that its nuclear program is designed to prevent an attack by the U.S. or other, saying it had the “opposite effect.”
“By threatening the world, these weapons and tests further isolate North Korea, weaken its economy, and deprive its people,” Trump said.
China also responded to the launch, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang saying in a Saturday statement in the People’s Daily newspaper that Beijing also opposes North Korea’s launch and its violations of Security Council resolutions, while calling on all parties to show restraint.
As Reuters subsequently reproted, Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discussed “military response options” in a phone call with his South Korean counterpart, his spokesman said in an emailed statement that didn’t elaborate. While Trump hasn’t ruled out a military response, Dunford warned in June that an armed conflict with North Korea would leave the millions of residents in Seoul, South Korea’s capital, to face casualties “unlike anything we’ve seen in 60 or 70 years.” This month he told a security conference in Colorado that “what’s unimaginable to me” is allowing the capability for “a nuclear weapon to land in Denver, Colorado.”
Shortly after the North Korean launch, the US and South Korean militaries responded with their own display of military strength, firing live surface-to-surface missiles from rocket launchers, amid renewed tension on the peninsula. Videos posted by the South Korean Ministry of Defense showed the US-made Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, as well as its own Hyunmoo Missile II.
The missiles hit the East Sea on Saturday morning, where North Korea’s ballistic missile is believed to have landed, as part of a live-fire exercise to demonstrate its “precision firing ability,” the US 8th Army said. US Forces in Korea said two missiles were fired from the ATACMS along with two Hyunmoo system missiles. The ATACMS is a Lockheed Martin surface-to-surface missile, with a range of 160km that can be fired from a range of rocket launchers.
The South Korean ministry said it was responding “to provocations of North Korean ballistic missiles.” “The systems can be rapidly employed to provide deep-strike precision capability, enabling the ROK-U.S. Alliance to engage a full array of time-critical targets under all weather conditions,” the 8th Army said on Facebook.
South Korea also said it would deploy four additional THAAD [Terminal High Altitude Area Defense] anti-missile launchers after North Korea’s test. The THAAD deployment had been delayed after South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered an environmental assessment. Meanwhile, China on Saturday said it had grave concerns about the possibility of more Thaad launchers in South Korea. It called on the U.S. and South Korea to stop the deployment, saying the launchers hurt the strategic balance in the region.
In response to the overnight news that North Korea had conducted its first ever ICBM test - despite both the US and Russia saying the Hwaswong 14 missile launched was at beast an intermediate-range rocket...
... moments ago Sec. State Rex Tillerson issued a statement, in which he said that "testing an ICBM represents a new escalation of the threat to the United States, our allies and partners, the region, and the world."
He said that the "U.S. seeks only the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the end of threatening actions by North Korea. As we, along with others, have made clear, we will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea." The problem is that North Korea is now not only nuclear-armed but, according to today"s events, it is close to being able to deliver the nuclear package to the US.
Which is why Tillerson, stopping short of endorsing military action, said that “we intend to bring North Korea’s provocative action before the UN Security Council and enact stronger measures to hold the DPRK accountable." The secretary of state also said that President Trump, and the national security team continued to assess situation.
Tillerson"s full statement is below.
Meanwhile, as Tillerson was dictating, Reuters reported that according to North Korea"s KCNA news agency, Pyongyang said it had conducted a test of a newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile that can carry a large and heavy nuclear warhead and that the test successfully verified the warhead"s atmospheric re-entry.
Kim Jong Un further said the successful test completed the country"s strategic weapons capability that includes atomic and hydrogen bombs and ICBMs, and it will not negotiate with the United States to give up those weapons until Washington abandons its hostile policy against the North, the country"s KCNA news agency said.
The North Korean leader also said he is "firmly determined and committed" to test an ICBM that can hit the U.S. mainland within this year, KCNA added. Providing some more details on yesterday"s launch, the North Korean news agKim also said that the U.S. must be upset with "gift package" that he sent for its Independence Day and says he will send more in futureency said that yesterday ICBM test showed the country"s capability of carrying newly- developed, large-sized nuclear warhead and that N. Korea had tested ICBM for re-entry capability.
* * *
Finally, and most disturbingly, Reuters said that South Korea and the United States early on Wednesday "conducted an offensive ballistic missile drill aimed at striking the North"s leadership."
Bloomberg adds that South Korea and the U.S. conducted a joint ballistic-missile drill around 7am on Wednesday, shooting rockets into the Sea of Japan, to warn against North Korea’s continued provocation of ballistic-missile tests, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The drill reportedly showed S.Korea, U.S. can hit N.Korea’s leadership in "contingencies."
Eighth US Army and Republic of Korea (ROK) military personnel conducted a combined event exercising assets countering North Korea’s destabilizing and unlawful actions on July 4.
This exercise utilized the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and the Republic of Korea Hyunmoo Missile II, which fired missiles into territorial waters of South Korea along the East Coast. The system can be rapidly deployed and engaged. The deep strike precision capability enables the ROK-U.S. Alliance to engage the full array of time critical targets under all weather conditions.
The ROK-U.S. Alliance remains committed to peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and throughout the Asia-Pacific. The U.S. commitment to the defense of the ROK in the face of threats is ironclad.
The drill was ordered by S. Korean President Moon Jae-in with President Donald Trump’s approval. A video of the missile launch is below:
As suddenly the threat of an out of control escalation by both sides appears all too real, the safe haven Japanese Yen currency is surging - which is ironic because if NKorea were to indeed strike Tokyo, the value of Japan"s currency would crater, and yet this is how algos operate - with the USDJPY tumbling as low at 113.
