Hours after North Korea conducted what may be its most successful missile test yet, the U.S. Army and its partners in the Republic of Korea conducted a combined exercise that fired missiles into the territorial waters of South Korea.

The combined event was designed to exercise "assets countering North Korea’s destabilizing and unlawful actions," according to a statement from the U.S. military.

The exercise took place Wednesday local time, just one day after the North Korean missile test. It utilized the Army Tactical Missile System and the ROK army’s Hyunmoo Missile II. The exercise fired missiles into South Korean waters along the East Coast.

"The system can be rapidly deployed and engaged," according to the statement from U.S. Forces-Korea and the U.S. Army’s 8th Army. "The deep strike precision capability enables the ROK-U.S. alliance to engage the full array of time critical targets under all weather conditions."

The U.S. and South Korea remain "committed to peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and throughout the Asia-Pacific," the statement also said, adding that the U.S. commitment to the defense of South Korea is "ironclad."

"The United States strongly condemns [North Korea's] escalatory launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile," Chief Pentagon Spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement Tuesday. "We are monitoring and continuing to assess the situation in close coordination with our regional allies and partners."

The launch demonstrates that North Korea "poses a threat to the United States and our allies," White said. "Together with the Republic of Korea, we conducted a combined exercise to show our precision fire capability."

An M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System from 1st Battalion, 18th Field Artillery Regiment, 210th Field Artillery Brigade, fires an MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile into the East Sea, July 5.
Photo Credit: Army

On Tuesday, North Korea fired an intermediate-range weapon that could be powerful enough to reach Alaska. It's Pyongyang's latest step in a push for nuclear weapons capable of hitting any part of the United States.

While some details are still unclear, the launch seems designed to send a political warning to Washington and its chief Asian allies, Seoul and Tokyo, even as it allows North Korean scientists a chance to perfect their still-incomplete nuclear missile program.

It also came on the eve of the U.S. Independence Day holiday, days after the first face-to-face meeting of the leaders of South Korea and the United States, and ahead of a global summit of the world's richest economies.

Officials say the missile fired from North Phyongan province, in the North's western region, flew for about 40 minutes, which would be longer than any other similar tests previously reported, and covered about 930 kilometers (580 miles). South Korean analysts say it's likely that it was a retest of one of two intermediate-range missiles launched earlier this year.

One U.S. missile scientist, David Wright, estimated that the missile, if the reported time and distance are correct, could have a possible maximum range of 6,700 kilometers (4,160 miles), which could put Alaska in its range if fired at a normal trajectory.

North Korea has a reliable arsenal of shorter-range missiles, but is still trying to perfect its longer-range missiles. Some analysts believe North Korea has the technology to arm its short-range missiles with nuclear warheads, but it's unclear if it has mastered the technology needed to build an atomic bomb that can fit on a long-range missile. It has yet to test an ICBM, though it has previously conducted long-range satellite launches that critics say are covers meant to test missile technology.

President Donald Trump responded on Twitter: "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

"This guy" presumably refers to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. China is North Korea's economic lifeline and only major ally, and the Trump administration is pushing Beijing to do more to push the North toward disarmament.

Just last week South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump met for the first time and vowed to oppose North Korea's development of atomic weapons.

Japan's government said the missile was believed to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan, but no damage to ships or aircraft in the area was reported.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sharply criticized North Korea for the launch. "The latest launch clearly showed that the threat is growing," Abe said.

The Korean Peninsula has been divided between the American-backed South and the authoritarian North since before the 1950-53 Korean War. Almost 30,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea.

Tuesday's launch is the first by the North since a June 8 test of a new type of cruise missile that Pyongyang says is capable of striking U.S. and South Korean warships "at will."

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