The Ministry of National Defense on the 8th condemned North Korea's ballistic missile launch the previous day and also expressed regret over a statement by the North's defense minister protesting the deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier for a South Korea-U.S. combined exercise.
In a text message to the defense press corps that day, the Ministry of National Defense said, "We strongly condemn North Korea's recent ballistic missile launch and express deep regret over its criticism today of the allies' annual combined exercises and meetings."
It added, "We urge North Korea to immediately stop actions that heighten inter-Korean tensions," and said, "Going forward, our military will continue to provide military support for the government's efforts to build peace on the Korean Peninsula while maintaining a firm readiness posture."
According to the Korean Central News Agency that day, North Korea's defense minister No Kwang-chol harshly criticized the United States and South Korea in a statement titled "The perception of the enemy and the response will be expressed more clearly by our armed forces" issued the previous day.
No, the defense minister, said, "We will demonstrate more offensive actions against the threats of our adversaries," and added, "We have correctly understood the United States' hostility to remain confrontational to the end and will never avoid responding to it."
He went on to threaten, "From now on, all threats that approach our security rights will be placed within our precise firing range and will be managed in the necessary manner."