North Korea fires multiple cruise missiles into West Sea
SEOUL (AFP) – North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles into the West Sea yesterday, Seoul’s military said, continuing a fresh streak of weapons testing as Kim Jong-un’s regime ramps up “war preparations.”
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military had “detected at around 11 a.m. the firing of multiple unidentified cruise missiles” into the sea off the country’s west coast.
The South Korean military has “stepped up surveillance in close coordination with the United States,” the JCS said in the statement.
The military is “closely monitoring for signs of additional activity” by the North Korean army, it said, adding they were “closely analyzing” the launch.
Yesterday’s launch comes three days after the nuclear-armed North conducted what it said was a test-fire of a strategic cruise missile.
On Sunday, Kim also oversaw the launch of two Pulhwasal-3-31s, a new type of strategic cruise missile, purportedly from a North Korean submarine. Pyongyang has also claimed this month to have tested an “underwater nuclear weapon system” and a solid-fueled hypersonic ballistic missile.
Unlike their ballistic counterparts, the testing of cruise missiles is not banned under current UN 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.
Analysts have warned that North Korea could be testing cruise missiles ahead of sending them to Russia for use in Ukraine, with Washington and Seoul claiming Kim has shipped weapons to Moscow as part of a possible illicit deal, banned by rafts of UN sanctions.