South Korea has warned its northern neighbor about a “hard” response to any provocation near its northern border.
And South Korean Defense Minister Lee Yong Seop today Friday ordered his country’s new senior military officers to “strongly” respond to any direct provocation from North Korea, Yonhap news agency reported.
Seoul’s warning comes amid tensions over North Korea’s recent missile launches.
The Minister of Defense of the South made the remarks at separate inaugurations of New Army Chief of Staff Gen. Pak Yong-hwan, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Chung Sang-hwa, and Air Force Chief of Staff. Navy, Lee Yong-ho, the agency said.
She added that the inauguration of the new senior military comes at a time when “Seoul is looking to step up its response to Pyongyang’s recent provocations” when it launched an intercontinental ballistic missile last Wednesday amid reports of an upcoming nuclear test.
He quoted a South Korean minister as saying the recent tests pose a “serious threat” to security on the Korean peninsula and beyond, and ordered the new leaders to take “immediate action against all threats.”
Speaking about North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile this week and preparations for nuclear tests, the minister said that North Korea poses a serious security threat on the Korean peninsula and beyond.
