North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile was meant to showcase the country's efforts to strengthen its capacity for 'fatal nuclear counterattack,' Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency said in a statement.
The agency added that the launch was organized "suddenly" without prior notice and at the direct order North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The ICBM launch also offered "clear proof of the sure reliability of our powerful physical nuclear deterrent," according to KCNA.“This launch needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in aThe U.S. also responded by conducting bilateral joint air exercises with both South Korea and Japan on Sunday.
South Korea's military said in a statement Sunday that the exercise demonstrated the U.S.' "ironclad commitment to the defence of the Korean Peninsula and the implementation of extended deterrence,"Japan's Defense Ministry said in a statement that the bilateral exercise "reaffirms the strong will between Japan and the United States to respond to any situation," adding that the security environment is "increasingly severe," per Reuters.
“I warn that we will watch every movement of the enemy and take corresponding and very powerful and overwhelming counteraction against its every move hostile to us,” she added.The U.S. and South Korea are slated to conduct joint nuclear drills on Feb. 22, per Reuters.
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