NK’s Kim guides nuclear counterattack drill
North Korea has conducted a tactical drill simulating a nuclear counterattack involving super-large multiple rocket launchers, state media said Tuesday, a day after South Korea said the North fired shortrange missiles into the East Sea.
Leader Kim Jong-un guided the drill held Monday to operate superlarge multiple rocket units that will have an “important role in substantially strengthening the prompt counterattack capacity of the state nuclear force,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
“The drill … is a clear warning signal to the enemies as it was conducted at a time when the enemies’ military confrontation racket against the DPRK is being committed with extremely provocative and aggressive nature,” the KCNA said.
On Monday, South Korea’s military said the North fired several shortrange ballistic missiles into the East Sea, three days after the North conducted what it claimed to be a superlarge warhead power test for a strategic cruise missile and test-fired a new anti-aircraft missile into the West Sea.
The latest launches came as South Korea and the United States have been conducting a two-week joint annual air exercise to strengthen readiness against the North’s military threats.
The North has used such drills as a pretext for its military provocations, with the KCNA on Tuesday denouncing the latest joint exercise as an attempt to “stifle the DPRK by force,” using the acronym for the North’s formal name.
During the exercise, units practiced switching to a nuclear counterattack posture in the event that the highest level of nuclear crisis alarm, “Hwasan,” is issued, as well as firing super-large multiple rocket launcher shells tipped with simulated nuclear warheads, according to the KCNA.
The launched missiles “accurately” hit the target island within a 352-kilometer range, it added.
The North’s super-large multiple rocket launch system is classified as a short-range missile that could put the entire South Korean territory within range. Pyongyang has claimed a tactical nuclear warhead could be mounted on such a weapon.