South Korea conducts live-fire tests at sea
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — With Seoul expecting another North Korean missile test, South Korean warships conducted livefire exercises at sea on Tuesday in a second straight day of military swagger from a nation still rattled by the North’s biggest nuclear test.
The test on Sunday, which North Korea said was a hydrogen bomb, was a huge advance in the North’s push for nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the U.S. It has also resulted in South Korea boosting its own military capabilities. Washington and Seoul agreed to lift restrictions on South Korean missiles they’d previously agreed upon, according to the South Korean presidential office, allowing Seoul to improve its pre-emptive strike capabilities against the North.
The Korean Peninsula has been in a technical state of war since the Korean War ended in an armistice in 1953. The near-constant unease has worsened in recent months as North Korea has displayed rapid improvement in its weapons capabilities, testing intercontinental ballistic missiles and a string of other missiles meant to target U.S. forces in Asia and the U.S. mainland.
South Korean ships participated in the drills aimed at retaliating against potential North Korean provocations, the Defence Ministry said. It plans more naval drills in its southern seas through Saturday. On Monday, Seoul used F-15 fighter jets and land-based ballistic missiles to simulate an attack on North Korea’s nuclear test site to “strongly warn” the North over the recent detonation.
The UN Security Council held its second emergency meeting about North Korea in a week on Monday, with U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley saying the North’s actions show that leader Kim Jong Un is “begging for war.”
“Enough is enough. War is never something the United States wants. We don’t want it now. But our country’s patience is not unlimited,” Haley said.
An agreement revealed Tuesday removes a 500-kilogram warhead limit on South Korea’s maximum-range missiles, which would allow the South to potentially target the North’s underground facilities and shelters. The U.S. has about 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea and is obliged by treaty to defend it in the event of war.