Will South Korea Attack North Korea? Seoul Test-Fires Ballistic Missile Capable Of Hitting Pyongyang

South Korea test-fired a nearly 500-mile range ballistic missile capable of reaching anywhere in North Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported Thursday, citing, defense sources. This comes after Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile off its east coast Wednesday.

"There was a test-firing recently of a Hyunmoo-type ballistic missile with a range of 800 kilometers [497 miles] at the Anheung test site of the Agency for Defense Development under the wing of the defense ministry," an unidentified source told Yonhap. "It's assessed that it was successful."

The South’s Defense Minister Han Min Koo supervised the launch, according to the report. If fired from South Korea’s southernmost province of Jeju, the missile can reach northernmost North Korean city of Sinuiju, the South Korean news agency added.

On Wednesday, North Korea fired a KN-15 ballistic missile — also known as Pukguksong-2 — triggering criticism from South Korea and Japan. The missile flew about 37 miles with maximum altitude of over 117 miles before splashing in international waters, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The missile test also came ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s official trip to the U.S. on April 6 and April 7 to meet President Donald Trump. China has consistently urged Washington for a negotiation to settle the conflict with North Korea .

Pyongyang’s missile test also came days after it warned it will "mercilessly smash the enemy's [South Korea and the U.S.] moves with its own style of special operation and preemptive attack" in response to the joint drills by South Korea-U.S. special operations teams in Seoul that began March 1.

"The ill-famed units is mainly aimed at carrying out the 'beheading operation' for 'removing the headquarters of the North' and the 'preemptive attack' operation for blowing up the nuclear and rocket bases," the Kim Jong Un-led regime said at the time.