North Korean leader Kim Jong UN supervised short-range ballistic missile system tests that simulated nuclear-southern and South Korean forces, state media said on Friday, while the North continued to blame their rivals for growing tensions through their joint military exercises.
The report occurred one day after South Korea military military detected several east -coast releases of North Korea and assess that the tests could also be related to the country’s weapons exports to Russia during its Ukraine war.
North Korea’s central central news agency said Thursday’s tests involved a apparently modeled mobile ballistic missile system after Iskander of Russia, as well as 600mm rocket launchers that South Korean authorities classify as ballistics due to their self-propeller flight and guided flight. Both are part of a growing line of weapon systems that the North says may be armed with “tactical” nuclear weapons for battlefield use.
KCNA said the tests were intended to train military units that operate on missile and rocket systems to perform attacks more effectively under the North Nuclear Weapon Control System and ensure a quick response to a nuclear crisis.
The agency has criticized the United States and its “vassal states” for expanding joint military exercises on the Korean peninsula and around the Korean, which the north claims that they are preparations for the nuclear war, and said the farm releases have shown the “rapid posture of counter -of their strengths”.
Kim emphasized the need to strengthen the role of his nuclear forces in dissuasive and fighting war, and asked for continuous efforts to improve the readiness of combat and precision strike capabilities, KCNA said.
Kim Inae, a spokesman for the South Korean Unification Ministry, which deals with inter-Korean affairs, described the latest North Korean releases as a “clear act of provocation” that violates UN Security Council resolutions and represents a serious threat to peace and stability in the region.
South Korea’s joint heads said that several missiles of various types were launched from the area around the Wonnsan port city on Thursday from 8:10 to 9:20 (19:10 to 20:20, Wednesday ET), with the most distant traveling about 500 miles.
Lee Sung Joon, a joint chiefs door, said in a briefing that the North Korean releases possibly intended to test the performance of weapons he plans to export, as the country continues to send military equipment and troops to feed the Russian war against Ukraine.
Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters that none of the North Korean missiles reached the exclusive economic zone of Japan and there was no damage to ships or aircraft in the area.
It was the first known ballistic activity in the North since March 10, when he fired several ballistic missiles hours after the US and South Korea troops began an annual combined military exercise and the country’s sixth country’s launch event.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula have increased in recent months as the North Korean leader Kim continues to accelerate the development of his nuclear programs and missiles and providing weapons and troops to support the Russian war against Ukraine.
Thursday’s release occurred a day after the North -Korean state media said Kim urged ammunition workers to increase the production of artillery shells amid their in -depth alignment with Moscow.