Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Korea and the US showed confidence in their ability to launch a pinpoint strike against the North Korean leadership

President Trump agreed to President Moon Jae-in’s order of missile combined armed protest

Showed off firm posture of Korea-US alliance, punishing North Korea immediately when any provocation occurs

Both the Korean and the US military sent a strong warning message to enemy command, staging the ‘Korea-US missile combined armed protest’ against a North Korean ballistic missile provocation on July 5.

At 7:00 a.m., the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that they had accomplished a Korea-US combined ballistic missile launch over the East Sea in response to a series of North Korean ballistic missile provocations.

This was carried out on an order from President Moon Jae-in and the agreement of President Trump, with the ground-to ground missile of the Korean army, Hyeonmu-2, and ATACMS of the Eighth US army being mobilized.

Regarding the North’s ballistic missile launch from the day before, President Moon said this was not a situation that we can counteract through statements alone, but a situation in which we need to show our firm combined missile defense posture. He ordered the Head of National Security Jeong Eui-yong to conduct ‘Korea-US missile combined armed protest,’ after which Jeong made a phone call to National Security Adviser McMaster around 9:00 p.m. and explained President Moon’s proposal for a collaborative launch. President Trump agreed after receiving the report from his adviser MacMaster.

Chief Yun said that President Trump agreed to plan a missile launch, saying that he respects and sympathizes with President Moon’s firm willingness to respond to the North Korean provocation.

The ground-to-ground missile from Hyeongmu-2 was fired at the same time as ATACMS was fired by the Eighth US army, showing the North’s leadership our ability to achieve a pinpoint strike. It was conducted right after North Korea announced its successful test firing of an ICBM, making a strong statement that any provocation is unacceptable. Until now, our government has responded to the North’s provocations such as missile firing, nuclear tests, etc. by calling the National Security Council and making an impeachment statement .

A Korean missile commanded who instructed the training in the field strongly warned, “Our army is closely observing North Korea’s military movement, and are in a firm readiness posture so that we can punish their provocation immediately. If North Korea threatens our people and the safety of the Korea-US alliance, the North Korean regime will find itself on the brink of ruin.”

■ Hyeonmu-2 and ATACMS : Hyeonmu-2 is a ballistic missile developed with domestic technology. It is classified into A, B and C type, and has a range of 300 – 800 kilometers. Meanwhile, ATACMS, a tactical ground-to-ground missile operated by the US Armed Forces in Korea, is able to burn an area corresponding to almost 4 soccer fields to the ground only with one shot because it has many sub-missiles. Its range reaches around 300 kilometers.

By Joo-Hyeong, Lee < jataka@dema.mil.kr >