In this photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korea fired two missiles from a submarine at an underwater target, according to state media, at an undisclosed location in North Korea on March 12, 2023 . , Photo Credit: Reuters
North Korea said on Monday it had conducted submarine-launched cruise missile tests, days after its leader Kim Jong Un ordered its troops to be ready to repel its rivals’ “frantic war preparation moves”. .
Sunday’s test comes a day before the start of a large-scale joint military exercise between the US and South Korean militaries, which North Korea sees as a rehearsal for an invasion.
North Korea’s official news outlet, the Korean Central News Agency, said on Monday that the missile launch showed the North’s resolve to respond with “tremendously powerful forces” to the rapid military maneuvers by “US imperialists and South Korean puppet forces”.
The KCNA also implied that the North intended to distribute cruise missiles tested with nuclear warheads.
It said the missiles flew for more than two hours, formed a figure-eight-shaped pattern in the waters off the country’s east coast, and hit a target 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) away. The missiles were fired from the 8.24 Yongang ship, KCNA said, referring to a submarine that North Korea has conducted all its known submarine-launched ballistic missile tests since 2016.
Sunday’s action was the North’s first underwater-launched missile test since testing the weapon from a silo beneath an inland reservoir last October. Last May, the country tested a short-range ballistic missile from the same ship.
North Korea’s command of submarine-launched missile systems would make it difficult for adversaries to detect a launch in advance and give the North the ability to retaliate. Experts say it will take years, extensive resources and major technological improvements for a nation with a massive acceptance to build multiple submarines that can travel quietly at sea and reliably carry out attacks.
After a record number of missile tests last year, North Korea has conducted several additional rounds since January 1. Ahead of Sunday’s launch, the country also tested an intercontinental ballistic missile potentially capable of reaching the mainland US; short-range, nuclear-capable missiles designed to strike South Korea; and other weapons.
Experts say Mr. Kim, who sees his nuclear arsenal as its best security guarantee, is trying to pressure the United States into accepting the North as a legitimate nuclear power and relaxing international economic sanctions. are doing.
Earlier on Monday, South Korea’s military said it had detected a submarine launch in waters near the North’s eastern port city of Sinpo on Sunday. Sinpo has a major submarine-building shipyard.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that South Korean and US intelligence officials were analyzing details of the operation.
North Korea views regular South Korean-US military drills as a major security threat, although allies say their drills are defensive. Some observers say North Korea uses its rivals’ drills as an excuse to test weapons and modernize its nuclear arsenal to secure the upper hand in dealings with the United States.
Last Thursday, Mr Kim oversaw a live-fire artillery drill simulating attacks on a South Korean airfield. According to the KCNA, he ordered his army to maintain the ability to “react forcefully” to enemy actions.
The news agency reported on Sunday that Mr. Kim also convened a key meeting on military affairs to take unspecified steps to “make more effective, powerful and aggressive use of war deterrence” in light of the US and South Korean maneuvers.
The South Korean-US drills are scheduled to last until March 23. These include a computer simulation called Freedom Shield 23 and several joint field training exercises, known collectively as Warrior Shield FTX.
The computer simulations are designed to strengthen the allies’ defense and response capabilities amid growing nuclear threats from North Korea and other changing security environments, according to the South Korean and US militaries.
The armies said the last major field training of the allies, called Foal Eagle, was conducted in 2018.
In past years, the US and South Korea have canceled or scaled back some exercises to further diplomatic efforts to denuclearize North Korea out of concern about the COVID-19 pandemic. The two countries once again expanded drills after North Korea conducted a record number of missile tests in 2022 and adopted an increasingly aggressive nuclear doctrine.
In recent weeks, the US flew powerful, long-range bombers for joint air exercises with South Korean fighter jets. South Korea’s defense ministry said the deployment demonstrated US commitment to use a full range of military capabilities, including nuclear, to defend its Asian ally in the event of an outright conflict with North Korea.
US-South Korea exercise resumes after North Korea’s submarine missile test
South Korean and US armies began their biggest joint military exercise in years on Monday, as North Korea said it conducted submarine-launched cruise missile tests in apparent protest of the drills, which it sees as an invasion rehearsal. Is.
The South Korean-American exercise consists of a computer simulation called Freedom Shield 23 and several joint field training exercises, collectively known as Warrior Shield FTX.
South Korean and US officials did not immediately disclose details of Monday’s exercise.
But he said earlier the computer simulation was designed to strengthen allies’ defense and response capabilities amid growing nuclear threats from North Korea and other changing security environments. He said the field exercise would also be back on the scale of their earlier biggest field training called Foal Eagle which was last conducted in 2018.
A recent US military statement said the field exercise is meant to enhance cooperation through air, land, sea, space, cyber and special operations and improve tactics, techniques and procedures between the two forces.