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Seoul may conduct ballistic missile test following North Korea’s test launch — media

SEOUL, February 13. /TASS/. South Korea is considering a ballistic missile test following a test launch conducted by North Korea, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported on Monday citing sources in the country’s defense ministry.

According to the sources, "in response to North Korea's missile launch Sunday, we are reviewing measures to discard security concerns and show our determination to retaliate against any aggression by the North". The source elaborated that South Korea could fire a Hyunmoo-2A missile with a range of more than 300 kilometers or the Hyunmoo-2B misslie with a range of over 500 km.

"There is also an opinion in the military that it will be more effective to unveil the test-firing scene of a new 800 km ballistic missile which is in the final stage of development," the source in the South Korean defense ministry added.

As reported earlier, on Sunday, North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan. According to the South Korean military, the missile was launched at around 07:55 local time (2255 GMT Saturday) from a shooting range located in the country’s North Pyongan province. The missile landed in the sea after flying about 500 kilometers.

According to the North Korean state-run KCNA news agency, the test launch of a surface-to-surface medium-long range ballistic missile Pukguksong-2, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, proved to be successful. The country’s leader Kim Jong-un supervised the missile launch.