Yoon vows to protect nation after latest N.K. missile launch

SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol vowed Thursday to protect the nation's safety through a strong alliance with the United States and trilateral cooperation with the U.S. and Japan, after North Korea carried out yet another missile launch earlier in the day.

The North fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea in its sixth launch in under two weeks. The latest launch came just two days after the North carried out a provocative firing of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) over Japan.

"I know the people must be worried, but our government will thoroughly take care of the people's lives and safety through a strong South Korea-U.S. alliance and security cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan," he told reporters as he arrived for work.

Yoon also referred to North Korea's IRBM launch on Tuesday, saying the missile put the U.S. territory of Guam within range, aiming to "strike strategic assets that will be deployed to the Korean Peninsula" in a contingency.

The missile flew some 4,500 kilometers before crashing into the Pacific Ocean, while Guam is located some 3,400 km away from Pyongyang.

The launches are in apparent protest of recent military exercises involving South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, including the redeployment of the U.S. aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan to South Korean waters the previous day.

The North's foreign ministry condemned the redeployment Thursday, saying the North is "watching the U.S. posing a serious threat to the stability of the situation on the Korean peninsula."

hague@yna.co.kr
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