South Korea: Defense ministry condemns North Korea's launch of short-range ballistic missile

SEOUL — South Korea's defence 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-US annual exercises and conference," 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 US sanctions on Pyongyang.

In a separate statement, the US 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 US homeland and our allies in the region," the USFK said.

Meanwhile, North Korean Defence 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 defence chiefs of South Korea and the US held the Security Consultative Meeting in Seoul on Tuesday to discuss key alliance and defence issues, Yonhap news agency reported.

Earlier on November 7, a US military command had reiterated America's readiness to defend its homeland and allies, stressing that North Korea's ballistic missile launch this week underscores the "destabilising" impact of Pyongyang's actions.

The Indo-Pacific Command had released a statement after Pyongyang fired one suspected short-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Friday (Korean time).

"We are aware of the missile launch and are consulting closely with our allies and partners," the command had said.

"While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or to our allies, the missile launch highlights the destabilising impact of the DPRK's actions. The US remains ready to defend the US homeland and our allies in the region," it added.

The DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The North's latest missile launch came after Pyongyang warned of proper measures against the latest US sanctions on it.

It last fired short-range ballistic missiles northeastward on October 22 ahead of South Korea's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and US President Donald Trump's visit to the country.