S. Korea fires missiles in response to North Korea’s long-range 'ICBM launch' 

Seoul: South Korea Thursday conducted a live-fire test of multiple ballistic and tactical missiles in response to North Korea's earlier intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch, its military has said. 

In what it called an immediate response, South Korean military said that it was ready and capable of precision strikes against the location where North Korea launched its missile, if needed.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff put the missile's maximum altitude at 6,200km and its range at 1,080km.

Today’s ICBM launch prompted South Korea to test fire a volley of its own, smaller ballistic and air-to-ground missiles to demonstrate it has the "capability and readiness" to precisely strike missile launch sites, command and support facilities, and other targets in North Korea if necessary, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

As per militaries in South Korea and Japan, ICBM launch by North Korea is thought to be its largest test ever, marking a dramatic end to a self-imposed moratorium on long-range testing.

Reportedly, the missile landed inside Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), 170 km (106 miles) west of the northern prefecture of Aomori, at 3:44 p.m. (0644 GMT), the coast guard said.

It was North Korea’s at least 12th round of weapons launches this year and came after it fired suspected artillery pieces into the yellow sea on Sunday.  

South Korean deputy national security advisor Suh Choo-suk condemned the launch as "a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions, and a reversal of the moratorium on ICBM launches, which North Korea had promised to the international community."

North Korea has refrained from ICBM launches since it tested the Hwasong-15 in November 2017 that flew for 53 minutes to an altitude of about 4,475km and range of 950km.