NKorea fires cruise missiles in fresh flurry of tests

SEOUL: North Korea fired another round of cruise missiles on Tuesday, Seoul’s military said, extending a recent flurry of tests of weapons that analysts warned could be destined for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

This month, Pyongyang has conducted tests of what it called an “underwater nuclear weapon system,” a solid-fueled hypersonic ballistic missile, and a new generation of strategic cruise missiles.

Relations between the two Koreas have sharply deteriorated, with Kim Jong Un declaring Seoul his principal enemy, as he pulls closer to Moscow, including, Washington says, sending weapons for use in Ukraine.

South Korea’s military said it had detected the launch of several cruise missiles early on Tuesday, adding that it was “conducting a detailed analysis” while strengthening surveillance in cooperation with its ally United States.

Unlike their ballistic counterparts, the testing of cruise missiles is not banned under current United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang.

Cruise missiles tend to be jetpropelled and fly at a lower altitude than more sophisticated ballistic missiles, making them harder to detect and intercept.

Despite rafts of UN sanctions, Seoul and Washington say Kim has been shipping weapons to Russia, possibly in exchange for Moscow’s technical assistance for Pyongyang’s budding spy satellite program.

Kim made a rare overseas trip to Russia’s Far East last September to meet President Vladimir Putin at a cosmodrome, with Putin now set to pay a visit to Pyongyang in return. The North successfully put its first spy satellite into orbit last November.

“It is believed that North Korea has commenced mass production of cruise missiles ordered by

Russia,” Ahn Chan-il, a defectorturned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told Agence FrancePresse (AFP).

“It looks like they are conducting ... experiments of these [ordered] missiles at sea, causing disruption to South Korea and the United States,” Anh said, adding that all guided missiles needed to undergo a minimum of five tests before being deployed on the battlefield.

Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said one cannot “rule out the possibility” that North Korea was conducting testfires of cruise missiles intended for export to Russia.

“During the Ukraine war, cruise missiles have played a significant role for Russia in targeting strategic facilities in Ukraine,” he told AFP.

Chun In-bum, a retired South Korean army general, said “North

Korean weapons are for sale as long as the price is right.”

Last December, Seoul’s spy agency issued a statement forecasting that Pyongyang would carry out military and cyber provocations in 2024, targeting election campaigns in the United States and South Korea.

Kim instructed his aides late last year to “come up with measures to cause a big stir in South Korea early next year,” it said.

In recent weeks, Kim has declared the South his country’s “principal enemy,” jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach, and threatened war over “even 0.001 millimeter” of territorial infringement.

Pyongyang’s latest launch comes after South Korea conducted a 10day special forces infiltration drill off the country’s east coast, “in light of serious security situations” with the North, which ended on January 25.