South Korea: The South Korean military has accused North Korea of firing two ballistic missiles off its east coast, as Mr. Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of the North’s leader Mr. Kim Jong-un, warned the nuclear-armed state could turn the Pacific into a “firing range.”

The launches came just two days after North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the sea off Japan’s west coast, prompting the United States to hold joint air exercises with South Korea and separately with Japan.

Ms. Yo-jong warned against the increased presence of US strategic assets on the Korean peninsula after joint air exercises between the US and South Korea.

“We are carefully examining the influence it would exert on the security of our state. The frequency of using the Pacific as our firing range depends upon the US forces’ action character,” Ms. Yo jong remarked in a statement.

Mr. Chung Jin-suk, head of the ruling People Power party, commented that South Korea had a “clear option” to counter the North’s continued development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.

UN Secretary General Mr. Antonio Guterres has condemned the North’s earlier launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile and called on Pyongyang to cease “provocative actions.”

“The secretary general strongly condemns the launch of yet another ballistic missile of intercontinental range by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” spokesman Mr. Stephane Dujarric shared. Mr. Du jarric further added that Mr. Guterres reiterated a call for Pyongyang “to immediately desist from taking any further provocative actions”.

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