South Korea's military launched a volley of ballistic missiles simulating an attack on the North's nuclear test site Monday, Seoul said, in an exercise responding to a test of what Pyongyang says was a hydrogen bomb.

Pictures showed South Korean short-range Hyunmoo ballistic missiles roaring into the sky in the pale light of dawn from a launch site on the country's east coast.

Authorities released video showing South Korean F-15K fighter jets firing air-to-ground missiles.

The weapons accurately hit their targets in the East Sea -- the Korean name for the Sea of Japan -- the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The exercise "was carried out as a strong warning" to the North for conducting its sixth nuclear test, it added.

The range to the simulated targets was equivalent to the distance to the North's Punggye-ri nuclear test site, where Sunday's test was conducted, it said.

North Korea on Sunday triggered global alarm with by far its most powerful atomic test to date, claiming it was a hydrogen bomb that could be mounted onto a long-range missile.

Following the test, South Korean President Moon Jae-In called for the "strongest punishment" while top military officers in Seoul and Washington vowed a joint "military counteraction" at the earliest date.

In a series of tweets posted hours after Sunday's test, US President Donald Trump denounced the North but also criticised Seoul.

South Korea, Trump said, "is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!"

The United States warned it could launch a "massive military response" to threats from North Korea.

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US cites its nuclear capabilities in defense against N.Korea
Washington (AFP) Sept 4, 2017
The United States stands ready to defend itself and its allies with the full range of its capabilities, including nuclear, the White House said Sunday after US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe conferred on North Korea's latest nuclear test. The two leaders condemned "North Korea's continued destabilizing and provocative actions," reaffirmed their "ironclad" mutua ... read more

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