U.S., S. Korea conduct bombing drill in response to North Korean missile launch

SEOUL, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- The United States and South Korea conducted a joint attack squadron flight and fired precision guided bombs at an island in the Yellow Sea in response to North Korea's intermediate range ballistic missile launch Tuesday, Seoul defense officials said.

Four U.S. Air Force F-16s and four South Korean F-15K fighter jets took part in the exercise, South Korea's Joint Chiefs said in a statement. An F-15K dropped a pair of Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM, precision bombs at a firing range on the uninhabited Yellow Sea island of Jikdo.

"Through this combined attack squadron flight and precision bombing training, South Korea and the United States have demonstrated their will to respond decisively to any North Korean provocations and the ability to precisely strike the origin of provocations with the overwhelming power of the alliance," the statement said.

North Korea fired a missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, causing authorities to issue evacuation warnings to residents of Aomori and Hokkaido Prefectures.

The weapons test was Pyongyang's fifth in around a week, but it has been widely denounced as the secretive regime's most provocative launch since September 2017, the last time it sent a missile over Japan.

The United States, Japan and South Korea held combined naval exercises near the Korean Peninsula on Friday.

Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group also conducted joint drills with the South Korean navy last week, which North Korea slammed as "an extremely dangerous act" that could lead to the "brink of war."

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in its statement that the allies are continuing to monitor activity in "preparation for additional North Korean provocations."