SEOUL, Oct. 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military on Thursday denounced North Korea's latest launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as an "illicit and reckless" provocation and warned the North will be held "wholly" accountable for all measures to follow.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) issued the stern warning, hours after North Korea launched what appeared to be a new type of solid-fuel ICBM toward the East Sea earlier in the day.
"Our military condemns the Kim Jong-un regime's illicit and reckless provocation and strongly urges the North to immediately cease all actions harming peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the international community, including the continued sending of trash balloons, the deployment of cannon fodder mercenaries to Russia and preparations for a nuclear test," Maj. Gen. An Chan-myong told a press briefing.
The JCS emphasized that the North's ICBM launch is a "clear" violation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions and warned that the North will be held "wholly accountable" for all situations that will arise from its continued provocations.
North Korea's ICBM launch, the first in about a year, came as the defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States jointly condemned the North's troop deployment to Russia with "one voice" in the "strongest" terms Wednesday.
The South's military said the North appeared to be seeking to gain leverage ahead of the U.S. presidential election next week, in a break from the current situation of intensifying scrutiny and criticism over its troop deployment to Russia.
The JCS vowed to main full readiness and said that defense chiefs of Seoul and Washington have agreed to demonstrate their determination for a response by carrying out various measures, including combined drills involving U.S. strategic assets.
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)