N. Korean leader Kim leads missile exercises that simulate a nuclear counterattack

SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw salvo launches from the country’s “super-large” rocket launchers that simulated a nuclear counterattack on enemy targets, state media said Tuesday, adding to his belligerent testing activities and threats that raised tensions have increased in the country. the region.

The report from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency came a day after the South Korean and Japanese militaries discovered what they suspected was the North firing several short-range ballistic missiles from a region near the capital Pyongyang toward the eastern seas.

Analysts say North Korea’s large artillery rockets blur the line between artillery systems and ballistic missiles because they can create their own thrust and are guided during launch. The North has described a number of these systems, including the 600mm multiple rocket launchers tested on Monday, which are capable of delivering tactical nuclear warheads.

KCNA said Monday’s launches marked the first demonstration of the country’s nuclear weapons management and control system, called “Haekbangashoe” or “nuclear trigger.” The report described the exercise as intended to demonstrate the power and various offensive assets of North Korea’s nuclear forces amid rising tensions with the United States and South Korea, which the country depicted as “warmongers” fueling tensions in the region increased their combined military exercises.

State media photos showed at least four missiles being fired from launch vehicles as Kim watched from an observation post. It said the missiles flew 352 kilometers (218 miles) before accurately hitting an island target and that the exercise verified the reliability of the “system of command, management, control and operation of the entire nuclear force.”

KCNA said Kim was pleased with the exercise, which he said showed how his nuclear-armed military “expanded and diversified the operating space of tactical nuclear strikes.”

He said the exercise was crucial for “preparing our nuclear forces to be able to quickly and correctly carry out their important mission of deterring war and taking the initiative in war, at any time and in any sudden situation.” The comments reflected North Korea’s escalating nuclear doctrine, which authorizes the military to carry out pre-emptive nuclear strikes on enemies if it deems the leadership threatened.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the weapons from Monday’s launches flew about 300 kilometers (185 miles) before crashing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The distances suggested the weapons were likely to target locations in South Korea.

North Korea has maintained an accelerated pace of weapons testing in recent months as it continues to expand its military capabilities amid stalled diplomacy with the United States and South Korea. Outside officials and analysts say Kim’s goal is to ultimately pressure the United States to accept the idea of ​​the North as a nuclear power and negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength.

In response to North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats, the United States and South Korea have strengthened their bilateral military exercises and trilateral exercises with Japan. The countries are also strengthening their nuclear deterrent strategies, which are built around strategic US assets.

In recent years, North Korea has tested nuclear-capable missiles designed to strike sites in South Korea, Japan and the US mainland. Many experts say North Korea already has nuclear missiles that can reach all of South Korea and Japan, but the country has not yet done so. to develop functioning intercontinental ballistic missiles that can travel to the US mainland

The latest launches came days after North Korea announced on Saturday that it had tested a “super-large” cruise warhead and a new anti-aircraft missile in a western coastal area earlier last week. In early April, North Korea also test-launched what it called a medium-range solid-fuel missile with hypersonic warheads, a weapon experts say is intended to attack remote targets in the U.S. Pacific region of Guam and beyond.

There is also speculation that North Korea could soon conduct its second launch of a military spy satellite, after putting the first one into orbit in November. Kim, who has described space-based reconnaissance as crucial to monitoring U.S. and South Korean military activities and increasing the threat from its nuclear missiles, has said the North will launch three additional military spy satellites in 2024.