Following U.S. Defense Secretary, James Mattis’ warnings of a “massive military response” to North Korea, South Korea’s military has at the early hours of this morning fired missiles into the sea to simulate an attack on the North’s main nuclear test site barely a day after the North regime detonated its largest ever nuclear test explosion, TIME reports.

The fierce warnings from the United States coupled with the military maneuvers in South Korea are becoming an imperative check on North Korea’s rapid, as-yet unchecked pursuit of a capable war-chest of nuclear-tipped missiles that can strike the United States evident in the most recent, sixth, largest and advanced nuclear test on Sunday – a hydrogen bomb.

South Korea’s military asserted that its singular action of live-fire exercise which involved drill of F-15 fighter jets and the country’s land-based “Hyunmoo” ballistic missiles was aimed at sending a “strong warning” to Pyongyang. The missiles were fired into the Japan sea.

According to Seoul’s Chiefs of Staff, the missile test target was set with a careful and intentional consideration of the distance to the North’s test site and the exercise was aimed at practicing precision strikes and cutting off reinforcements.

Each new North Korean nuclear missile test sets a new tone for Pyongyang’s scientists and affords a new frontier in nuclear capability. And the latest claimed hydrogen bomb development would be a huge addition to a growing fleet of North Korea nuclear bombs which has been a long pursuit of each regime, spanning into three decades in trying to perfect a multistage, long-range missile to eventually carry smaller versions of those bombs.

Kim’s resilience at achieving this feet is a great defiance and flouting of both diplomacy and severe sanctions from South Korea, the United States and even the UN.

When asked by a reporter if he would attack the North, Trump said: “We’ll see”. President Trump is trying to thread with caution by refraining from an immediate military action, but instead, resort to ratcheting up economic penalties, which have had little effect thus far.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis after a White House meeting with Trump and other national security officials told reporters that, “America does not seek the total annihilation of the North, We have many options to do so.”
He said, “the U.S. will answer any threat from the North with a massive military response — a response both effective and overwhelming.”

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