South Korean Defense² Ministry³ spokesman Kim Min-seok told a press briefing that the DPRK launched two missiles, estimated to be Scud-C ballistic missiles considering altitude, flying velocity⁴ and trajectory⁵, from 6:32 a.m. to 6:41 a.m. local time from Nampo areas, South Pyongan Province. 

 

Those missiles, launched from Nampo, the DPRK's western coast city located southwest of capital Pyongyang, flied about 490 km across its territory into eastern waters. 

 

The launch came on the day when South Korea and the United States kicked off their joint annual military exercises "Key Resolve" and "Foal Eagle" despite strong opposition⁶ from the DPRK. 

 

Meanwhile, an unnamed spokesman for the DPRK's General Staff of the Korean People's Army issued a statement warning of "toughest measures" to retaliate⁷ against the military exercises. 

 

The army of the DPRK "will never remain a passive onlooker⁸" to the drills, the statement said. 

 

The retaliatory⁹ measures will include "all the ground, sea, underwater, air and cyber striking means" and the country's armed forces "are fully¹⁰ ready" to strike their designated targets. 

 

Pyongyang said the "Key Resolve" and "Foal Eagle" war games are "dangerous nuclear war drills for invading the DPRK as they are aimed at swiftly hurling¹¹ and forward-deploying the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces in contingency¹² on the Korean Peninsula." 

 

"Those drills are the most undisguised infringement¹³ upon the DPRK's sovereignty and dignity and a grave military provocation¹⁴ to it for which they can never excuse," the statement said. 

 

The Korean Peninsula situation "is again inching close to the brink¹⁵ of a war," it noted¹⁶.

点击收听单词发音