The latest show of force from Pyongyang comes as it buzzes with military exercises by South Korea and the US.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen exercises “simulating a nuclear counterattack” — including the firing of a ballistic missile with a dummy warhead — for two days, according to state news agency KCNA, while South Korea and the United States continue their own army. assignments.
Kim expressed “satisfaction” with the weekend’s launches, which were held to “familiarize relevant units with the procedures and processes for conducting their tactical nuclear strike missions,” KCNA reported Monday.
The agency shared photos of Kim during the test, again with his young daughter, as flames roared from the soaring missile before it hit the target. During the exercises, a ballistic missile equipped with a dummy warhead flew 800 km (497 mi) before hitting a target at an altitude of 800 m (2,625 ft), it said.
“DPRK’s nuclear power will greatly deter, contain and contain the enemy’s reckless actions and provocations with its high war readiness, and carry out its important mission without hesitation in case of any undesirable situation,” Kim said. acronym of his country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The exercises were the fourth show of force from Pyongyang in a week and came as South Korea and the US are ramping up their own military maneuvers — known as Freedom Shield — which North Korea sees as a rehearsal for an invasion and a hostile act. .
On Sunday, the two allied countries conducted air and naval exercises involving US B-1B strategic bombers, and their navies and marines will begin large-scale amphibious landing exercises from the Ssangyong on Monday. The exercises, the largest in five years, will run for two weeks until April 3.
Last month, the US and South Korea held table exercises to simulate North Korea’s nuclear attack, as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol pushed for more confidence in the US’s expanded deterrence – its military capability, particularly nuclear forces , to deter attacks on its allies.
South Korea and Japan have also taken action to strengthen security cooperation amid North Korea’s weapons tests, brushing aside decades of historical grievances.
North Korea is barred from testing ballistic missiles under successive UN sanctions over its nuclear weapons program.
Last week, Pyongyang fired off its largest and most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Hwasong-17, the second such test this year.
At the request of the US and Japan, the UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on the launch of the ICBM on Monday, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
(TagsToTranslate)News
