South Korea and the United States fired eight surface-to-surface missiles early on Monday off South Korea's east coast after North Korea launched a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles on Sunday, a South Korea defence ministry official said.

The action is a demonstration of "the capability and readiness to carry out precision strike" against the source of North Korea's missile launches or the command and support centres, South Korea's Yonhap news agency cited the South Korean military as saying...