Leader Kim seeks military muscle boost
SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jongun called for boosting the country’s strategic military forces as he observed the test of a hypersonic missile, state media said yesterday, officially attending a missile launch for the first time in nearly two years.
On Tuesday authorities in South Korea and Japan detected the suspected launch, which drew condemnation by authorities around the world and prompted an expression of concern from the UN secretary-general.
The second test of a “hypersonic missile” in less than a week underscored Mr Kim’s New Year’s vow to bolster the military with cuttingedge technology at a time when talks with South Korea and the United States have stalled.
After watching the test, Mr Kim urged military scientists to “further accelerate the efforts to steadily build up the country’s strategic military muscle both in quality and quantity and further modernize the army,” KCNA news agency reported.
It was the first time since 2020 that Mr Kim had officially attended a missile test.
“His presence here would suggest particular attention on this programme,” Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, posted on Twitter.
Unlike some other recent tests, ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun published photos of Mr Kim attending the launch on its front page.
“While Kim probably unofficially attended other tests in the interim, this appearance and its Page One feature on ‘Rodong Sinmun’ is important,” said Chad O’Carroll, chief executive of Korea Risk Group. “It means Kim is not concerned about being personally associated [with] tests of major new tech. And doesn’t care how the US sees this.”
UN Security Council resolutions ban all North Korean ballistic missile and nuclear tests and have imposed sanctions over the programmes.