and South Korean response to the North's test on Tuesday, a South Korean air force F-15K jet dropped a pair of guided bombs on a target off its west coast, in what South Korea's military called a demonstration of precision strike capability against the source of North Korean provocations.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it appeared to have been an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) launched from North Korea's Jagang Province.The initial details suggested the missile may have been the Hwasong-12 IRBM, which North Korea unveiled in 2017 as part of what it said was a plan to strike U.S.Flying a missile such a long distance allows North Korea's scientists to test under more realistic conditions, said Ankit Panda of the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called the test "reckless" and said it would bring a decisive response from his country, its allies and the international community.South Korea's defense minister, Lee Jong-sup, told parliament the North had completed preparations for a nuclear test and if there was a test, he said, it might use a smaller weapon meant for operational use, or a device with a higher yield than in previous tests.Lee said it was difficult to predict when North Korea would conduct its seventh nuclear test, but lawmakers briefed by intelligence officials last week said a window could be between China's Communist Party Congress this month and U.S.