N Korea fires live rounds in celebration
SEOUL: North Korea conducted largescale live-fire artillery drills yesterday to mark its army anniversary, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said.
Pyongyang staged the large-scale exercises of fire-power around the city of Wonsan on the east coast, they said.
The South Korean military was closely monitoring the North Korean moves as it maintains firm combat readiness, said the chiefs of staff.
Yesterday’s drills reportedly involved 300 to 400 long-range artillery guns.
The drills were observed by top leader Kim Jong-un.
North Korea has in the past tended to mark significant dates by displaying its military capabilities.
On April 15, the country conducted a massive military parade in Pyongyang to mark the birthday of its founder, Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of Kim Jong-un.
The live-fire drills in North Korea yesterday came amid ongoing joint military exercises of South Korea and the US, which have been denounced by Pyongyang as a rehearsal for a northward invasion.
Amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, US President Donald Trump is pursuing a policy somewhat like his predecessor Barack Obama, albeit one that is more direct, US experts have said.
Trump has in recent days re-directed a US aircraft carrier strike group to the area in a bid to send a signal both to North Korea and to its allies in the region, after a recent missile test launch by the North and heightened rhetoric between the US and Pyongyang.
“Right now the Trump administration seems to be following an ‘Obama-plus’ strategy,” Michael Auslin, the director of Japan Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, said.
“(It has adopted the) same approach of reassuring allies, maintaining military assets in the region, but heightened rhetoric, more direct threats,” he said. “No real indications yet that they (the Trump administration) are considering a new round of negotiations.
“But if they are, then having a harder line upfront, announcing the end of ‘strategic patience’ gives them a stronger starting hand,” added Auslin.
Still, there is a risk that Trump would draw a red line of his own regarding North Korea, he said.
“And if he doesn’t act in some way, then the administration’s credibility may suffer,” Auslin said.
Appearing willing to use military pressure and to commit a second US carrier strike group to the region specifically for North Korea is an attempt to signal seriousness, and the ability to act if necessary, he added. However, as a result of the confusion over the timing of its deployment, it has raised questions about the US commitment in South Korea.