North Korea launched two long-range cruise missiles into the sea, state media reported Monday, hailing the maneuver as a demonstration of its “combat capability” in the face of external threats.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un oversaw the exercise, held Sunday over the Yellow Sea, and defended the “unlimited and sustained” development of the country’s nuclear forces, according to the official KCNA news agency.
This is apparently the first such test since early November. The aim of the exercise was to assess “the counter-offensive response posture and combat capability of long-range missile subunits”, KCNA said.
According to the agency, the missiles flew for more than two hours. The state vehicle released images of the shooting and the moment the projectiles hit their targets.
For their part, the South Korean armed forces reported having detected the launch of several missiles from the Sunan region, close to Pyongyang, according to the Yonhap agency.
The last time the North conducted ballistic missile tests was in early November, a week after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed interest in meeting with Kim Jong Un during a visit to Asia. Pyongyang did not respond to the offer.
Last week, North Korean state media released a Defense Ministry statement condemning the arrival of a U.S. nuclear submarine in the South Korean port of Busan.
According to analyst Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, the most recent launch aims to counterbalance this type of action.
“The arrow-type cruise missiles, with a range of about 2,000 kilometers, are capable of hitting not only the entire Korean Peninsula, but also the bases of US forces in Japan,” Yang told AFP.
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