N. Korea fires cruise missiles as allies stage drills
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea launched cruise missiles toward the sea on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, three days after the North carried out what it called a simulated nuclear attack on South Korea to protest its military drills with the United States.
North Korea has stepped up its weapons testing activities, saying they are in response to the ongoing South Korean-US military training that it sees as an invasion rehearsal. Analysts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un likely intends to enlarge his arsenal to win greater outside concessions, while trying to boost an image of a strong leader amid domestic economic hardships.
The 11-day South Korean-US drills are to end today. But North Korea is expected to continue its weapons tests as the United States reportedly plans to send an aircraft carrier in coming days for another round of joint drills with South Korea.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected “several” cruise missile launches from the North’s eastern coastal town of Hamhung. It said the missiles flew into the waters off the North’s east coast and that South Korean and US intelligence authorities were analyzing further details.
The launches are the North’s sixth round of missile tests this month and the fourth since the US and South Korean militaries early last week began large-scale military drills, which include field exercises and computer simulations. The field training is the largest of its kind since 2018.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the South Korean military will maintain a firm readiness and successfully complete the rest of the drills with the United States.
North Korea keeps a huge stockpile of ballistic missile systems whose tests are banned by multiple UN Security Council resolutions. Eleven rounds of UN sanctions imposed on North Korea since 2006 were approved because of North Korea’s previous ballistic missile and nuclear test explosions.
Cruise missile tests by North Korea aren’t prohibited by the UN council. But experts say they still pose a serious threat to its neighbors because they are designed to fly at a lower altitude to avoid radar detection. Experts say the main mission of North Korean cruise missiles include striking US aircraft carriers or other big enemy ships in the event of conflict.
North Korea has called some of its cruise and ballistic missiles “strategic” weapons, a suggestion that it wants to arm them with nuclear warheads. Foreign experts debate whether the North has overcome the remaining technological hurdles to possess functioning nuclear missiles.
North Korea’s state media didn’t immediately confirm Wednesday’s launches. But it carried a statement by senior Foreign Ministry official Jo Chol Su, which protested what it called recent US diplomatic attempts at the UN Security Council to push with the North’s denuclearization.