The South Korean and US military fired four short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missiles at dummy targets at sea in response to North Korea’s Tuesday launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan five years ago.

The South Korean military said in a statement that both the South Korean and US military fired two Atakams missiles at dummy targets in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of ​​Japan. The statement explains that the launch of these short-range ballistic missiles was carried out to “precisely hit an imaginary target.”

The Joint Chiefs of Staff added that the exercise “demonstrated that we are capable and prepared to eliminate the source of provocation while maintaining a position of constant observation.”

In a statement, the South Korean military indicated that a missile fired by their units fell shortly after launch and crashed without causing any casualties.

On Tuesday morning, North Korea launched a medium-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan before crashing into the Pacific Ocean, an unprecedented event since 2017, prompting Tokyo to activate a warning system and ask residents in some areas to take cover.

And Pyongyang, which has nuclear weapons, has conducted an unprecedented series of tests this year. Those tests culminated last week when the North Korean military launched four short-range ballistic missiles.

In Washington, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN that the exercise is intended to “make sure our military capabilities are ready to respond to northern provocations if necessary.”

“It shouldn’t go that far. We made it clear to Kim Jong-un that we are ready to sit down at the negotiating table without preconditions. We want the Korean Peninsula to be free of nuclear weapons,” he added.

Kirby lamented that the North Korean leader “shows no inclination to move in that direction – and, frankly, he is moving in the opposite direction, continuing to conduct these missile tests that violate UN Security Council resolutions.”

South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol condemned North Korea’s launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Tuesday and vowed to give a “firm response” to the “provocation.”

Hours after the North Korean missile test, South Korean and American fighter jets conducted maneuvers Tuesday in which two South Korean F-15K fighter jets dropped bombs on an imaginary target in the Yellow Sea.

The last time a North Korean missile flew over Japan was in 2017, at the height of the “fire and fury” phase during which North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump hurled harsh insults at the time.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned North Korea’s missile tests as a “clear escalation”, while US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned it “in the strongest terms”.

Pyongyang stepped up its banned weapons programs amid stalled talks with the US, conducting a record number of military tests this year and passing a new law allowing preemptive nuclear strikes, including in retaliation for conventional weapons strikes, on the fly, making it nuclear “irreversible” energy.

On September 30, Seoul, Tokyo and Washington held three anti-submarine exercises, the first of their kind in five years. The exercise came days after a large-scale exercise conducted by the US and South Korean navies off the peninsula.

North Korea, which is under UN sanctions because of its banned weapons programs, usually tries to conduct its military tests at a time when it increases its geopolitical influence.

US and South Korean officials recently warned that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was preparing to conduct a new nuclear test.