South Korea's presidential office 'closely watching developments' over North Korea's ballistic missile provocation

South Korea's presidential office said it was "closely watching North Korea's movements," regarding North Korea's launch of a long-range ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan on February 18th.

A source close to the president's office told reporters on the afternoon of the 19th that North Korea's provocations had come to an end, saying, "Yesterday (18th), the NSC (National Security Council) ended, and our position was relatively told detailed and clearly."

North Korea launched a long-range missile presumed to be an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) into the Sea of Japan on the 18th. "The missile had a maximum altitude of 5,768.5 kilometers and a flight distance of 989 kilometers" North Korea said in a public press release on the same day.

President Yoon Seo-gyul, immediately after North Korea's missile launch was detected on the 18th, the president's office immediately convened an NSC standing committee meeting and began to respond.

After the NSC Standing Committee meeting, the president's office said in a press release, "Attendees said that North Korea's long-range ballistic missile launches are a serious violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a serious provocation that heightens tensions on the Korean Peninsula and within the region. We strongly condemn this."

They went on to warn that "The only thing North Korea would gain through provocation would be severe sanctions from the international community." Additionally, they said "Through DSC TTX or Freedom Shield and practical training, we have decided to substantially strengthen our response capabilities."

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on the 18th, "Our military intercepted a long-range ballistic missile launched over the Japan Sea from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at around 17:22 on the 18th.

"Immediately after North Korea's ballistic missile launch, we closely shared the situation in the East Sea through a South Korea-US cooperation meeting and confirmed that we would further strengthen our combined defence posture against any threats and provocations from North Korea," they added.