South Korea has conducted its first live-fire drill for an advanced air-launched cruise missile that would strengthen its pre-emptive strike capability against North Korea in the event of crisis.
South Korea's military said the Taurus missile fired from an F-15 fighter jet travelled through obstacles at low altitudes before hitting a target off the country's western coast during drills on Tuesday.
The missile, manufactured by Germany's Taurus Systems, has a maximum range of 500km and is equipped with stealth characteristics that will allow it to avoid radar detection before hitting North Korean targets, according to Seoul's Defence Ministry.
South Korea has been accelerating efforts to ramp up its military capabilities in face of a torrent of nuclear weapons tests by North Korea, which on September 3 conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date.
Shortly after the nuke test, Seoul announced it reached an agreement with Washington to remove the warhead weight limits on South Korean ballistic missiles, which under a bilateral guideline could be built for a maximum range of 800km.
A pre-emptive strike against Pyongyang's leadership would be difficult to undertake, but it's widely seen as the most realistic of the limited military options Seoul has to deny a nuclear attack from its rival.
The North said its latest nuclear test was a detonation of a thermonuclear weapon built for its developmental intercontinental ballistic missiles that were flight tested twice in July.
The country is also developing solid-fuel missiles that could be fired from land mobile launchers or submarines. It flew a powerful new mid-range missile over northern Japan last month while declaring more missile tests targeting the Pacific Ocean.
Meanwhile, South Korea said it found a small amount of radioactivity in air samples collected days after the North's test.
North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test on September 3, prompting the UN Security Council to step up sanctions with a ban on the reclusive regime's textile exports and a cap on fuel supplies.
The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said its land-based xenon detector in the northeastern part of the country found traces of xenon-133 isotope on nine occasions, while its mobile equipment off the country's east coast detected traces of the isotope four times.
"It was difficult to find out how powerful the nuclear test was with the amount of xenon detected, but we can say the xenon was from North Korea," Choi Jongbae, executive commissioner, told a news conference in Seoul.
The NSCC could not confirm what kind of nuclear test the North conducted.
Xenon is a naturally occurring, colourless gas that is used in manufacturing of some sorts of lights. But the detected xenon-133 is a radioactive isotope that does not occur naturally and which has been linked to North Korea's nuclear tests in the past.
The NSCC also said the xenon traces detected had no impact on South Korea's environment and population.
North Korea is thought to be getting better at concealing its nuclear work, making radioactivity less detectable from a distance.
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