SEOUL, South Korea's top military officer called on troops Wednesday to "strongly" retaliate against North Korean provocations, his office said, amid tensions over Pyongyang's continued weapons tests. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo made the call as he visited the Drone Operations Command in Pocheon, 52 kilometers northeast of Seoul, hours after the North fired multiple cruise missiles off its eastern coast in its fifth such missile launch this year. Kim inspected the unit's readiness against threats posed by North Korean drones and noted the increasing importance of the unmanned assets in modern warfare, citing their use in the Israel-Hamas war. "If the enemy undertakes a provocation, (we) must strongly punish them so that they are unable to make another provocation again," he was quoted as saying. Kim also visited a nearby aviation unit under the Army's Fifth Corps and called on troops to track the enemy down until the end and shoot them down in case of a provocation, according to his office. The inspections came amid concerns the North may stage provocative acts in time for the birth anniversary of the North's late leader Kim Jong-il on Friday. The military launched the Drone Operations Command last September to oversee the military's use of the unmanned assets and deter various asymmetric threats posed by the North after five North Korean drones intruded across the inter-Korean border in December 2022. Source: Yonhap News Agency