South Korea slams North's ballistic missile launch, rejects criticism of allied exercises
Published: 08 Nov. 2025, 15:21
Updated: 09 Nov. 2025, 09:59
![North Korea fires a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile on Jan. 6. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/09/4a0b698e-f0c8-40f4-98a9-7a48d6fbc933.jpg)
North Korea fires a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile on Jan. 6. [YONHAP]
South Korea's Defense Ministry on Saturday "strongly denounced" the North's suspected ballistic missile launch, calling for the North to halt acts that heighten tension between the Koreas.
"The South's military strongly condemns the recent ballistic missile launch by the North, and expresses deep regret for [the North's] statement denouncing South Korea-U.S. annual exercises and conferences," the ministry said in a notice to the press.
It also called on North Korea to "immediately halt" all acts heightening tensions between the two Koreas.
The statement came a day after North Korea launched one suspected short-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Friday, a day after it warned of proper measures against the latest U.S. sanctions on Pyongyang.
In a separate statement, U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) also said it is aware of the North's ballistic missile launch and its pursuit of long-range missile capabilities.
"We are consulting closely with the Republic of Korea. Our focus is on maintaining the readiness required to defend the U.S. homeland and our allies in the region," USFK said, referring to South Korea by its official name.
Meanwhile, North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang-chol denounced the annual security talks between South Korea and the United States as an "intentional" expression of the allies' "hostile" nature against it, vowing to take "more offensive" actions against enemy threats.
No's remarks came as the defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States held the Security Consultative Meeting in Seoul on Tuesday to discuss key alliance and defense issues.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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