SEOUL, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo on Monday saw a very low possibility for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to launch its missiles targeting the waters off the coast of the U.S. island of Guam in the Pacific.
Asked about the DPRK's recent threat, Song said the possibility was "very low" during a session of the parliamentary defense committee.
The defense chief said the very low possibility was based on close discussions between high-level military officials of South Korea and the United States.
Though it would be hard to believe all of what the DPRK claimed, the DPRK's missiles could strike the sea near the U.S. island from the "distance" perspective, Song said.
Pyongyang warned Washington last week that it could strike the waters 30 to 40 km off Guam by firing Hwasong-12, an intermediate-range ballistic missile of the DPRK.
Hours before the warning, U.S. President Donald Trump said that if the DPRK continues threats against his country, Pyongyang would be met with "fire and fury."
The DPRK test-fired what it called an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) twice in July, lofting the Hwasong-14 as high as over 3,700 km and flying it as far as about 1,000 km in the latest test-launch.
Amid the exchange of belligerent rhetoric between the United States and the DPRK, tensions ran high on the peninsula.
