US, South Korea Fire Missiles in Show of Force to Kim Jong Un

On Monday, both the US and South Korea test fired 8 missiles in response to the weapons test North Korea had the previous day. According to the Washington Post, the US military said both militaries “fired one U.S. missile and seven South Korean missiles eastward into the sea to demonstrate the countries’ ability to “respond quickly to crisis events,”.

The countries were responding to the 8 short-range missiles North Korea fired, as North Korea has continued to build and test new weapons that will replace older ones. These tests conducted by the North Korean military are reportedly a part of Kim Jong Un’s 5 year plan. The Washington Post also reported that the South Korea-US firing of missiles was done to demonstrate the “capability and posture to launch immediate precision strikes on the origins of provocations, even if North Korea launches missiles from various locations”, or basically to show that the US and South Korea are well prepared if North Korea attacks. South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol, said to the Post that “North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats are getting sophisticated”, and that North Korean missile program is becoming a threat not just to the Korean Peninsula, but to countries all around the world.