North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported Sunday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of around 10 ballistic missiles.
The test comes after South Korean and US forces began their spring military exercises, which will last until March 19.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised tests of the multiple rocket launch system (MRLS) on Saturday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
He said that 12 600 mm caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies participated in the test.
Kim said the exercise gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420-kilometer strike range, a sense of “unease” and “a deep understanding of the destructive power of tactical nuclear weapons,” KCNA reported.
The rockets hit a target island in the East Korean Sea more than 360 kilometers away, KCNA said on Sunday.
Kim praised the MRLS as a “very deadly but attractive weapon.”
Photos published by state media showed several rockets launching large vehicles into the air.
Another image shows Kim and his daughter Ju Ae watching the launch from afar, flanked by a military officer.
Ju Ae has long been considered next in line to rule the country, a perception fueled by a series of recent high-profile departures.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it had detected multiple launches on Saturday from the North into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.
Seoul’s presidential Blue House condemned the launches as a “provocation that violates United Nations Security Council resolutions” and urged Pyongyang to immediately stop such acts.
The launches came hours after South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said U.S. President Donald Trump believes a meeting with Pyongyang’s Kim would be “good.”
The Trump administration has pushed in recent months to revive high-level talks with Pyongyang, considering a possible summit with Kim this year, potentially during Trump’s visit to Beijing scheduled for late March.
After largely ignoring these proposals, Kim recently said the two nations could “get along” if Washington accepted Pyongyang’s nuclear status.
Exercises for meetings
The U.S.-South Korea spring military exercises, dubbed “Freedom Shield,” will involve about 18,000 Korean troops and run through March 19.
Kim’s comment about the rockets suggested it was in response to the ongoing exercise, said Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
“The launch pattern … is closely synchronized with the schedule” of the joint drills, he said.
“This suggests that the weapons system is being used as a means of nuclear deterrence and practical demonstration” against the alliance.
This week, Kim Yo Jong, a powerful confidant of her brother Kim Jong Un, said that joint exercises “may have unimaginably dire consequences.”
He went on to say that the exercises were taking place at “a critical time when the global security structure is rapidly collapsing and wars are breaking out in different parts of the world.”
Pyongyang condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran as an “illegal act of aggression”, saying it shows the “rogue” nature of the United States.
North Korea also recently conducted missile tests from the naval destroyer Choe Hyon, stating that the country was in the process of “equipping the Navy with nuclear weapons.”
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
