Seoul, March 20 (BNA) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a drill simulating a nuclear counterattack against the United States and South Korea in a warning to allies who are intensifying their joint military exercises, the official KCNA news agency reported on Monday.
The North Korean exercise included a short-range missile launch, but – unusually – the missile launched from a buried silo, which analysts say will help improve speed and stability in future tests of ICBMs, Reuters reported.
The Korean Central News Agency said the exercises on Saturday and Sunday are aimed at strengthening the country’s “capacity for war deterrence and nuclear counterattack,” accusing Washington and Seoul of making an “explicit attempt to wage war” against it.
The Korean Central News Agency said that a ballistic missile equipped with a dummy nuclear warhead flew 800 kilometers in the exercises before hitting a target as part of a tactical nuclear attack scenario.
Pictures from the Korean Central News Agency showed that Kim attended the test, again with his young daughter, as flames erupted from the flying missile before it hit the target.
Analysts said the images indicated the launch involved a KN-23 short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), but unlike previous tests, the engine exhaust appeared to have been vented to the sides at the moment of liftoff, which could mean that a silo was used.
“Until now, North Korea preferred mobile launchers for everything from short-range ballistic missiles to massive ICBMs, but due to poor road conditions and systems, it was difficult to guarantee the stability of the missile during actual operations,” said Yang Uk, a fellow at the institute. . Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.
“The latest launch may be a test launch for future larger missiles such as the Hwasong-17 ICBM in a silo.”
A South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman said North Korea was making significant technical progress in its nuclear program, but did not elaborate.
South Korea and Japan reported the launch of a North Korean short-range ballistic missile off the east coast on Sunday, the latest in a series of missile tests in recent weeks.
North Korea has reacted harshly to the joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States, describing it as a rehearsal for an invasion against it.
The allies are carrying out exercises this month, including air and sea exercises on Sunday using American B-1B bombers.
The US and South Korean navies and marines are scheduled to begin their first large-scale amphibious landing maneuvers in Ssangyong in five years on Monday for two weeks through April 3.
Last month, the two countries held a tabletop exercise simulating a North Korean nuclear attack amid South Korean President Yoon Sok-yol’s push for more confidence in America’s expanded deterrence — its military capacity, especially nuclear forces, to deter attacks on its allies.
In another message, the KCNA said more than 1.4 million North Koreans had volunteered to join or re-enlist in the army to fight against Seoul and Washington, compared to about 800,000 reported by a state newspaper just two days earlier.