North Korea says its recent barrage of missile launches were tests of its tactical nuclear weapons’ capacity to “hit and wipe out” potential South Korean and US targets. Leader Kim Jong Un signalled he would conduct more provocative tests in coming weeks.
The North’s statement, released on the 77th birthday of its ruling Workers’ Party, is seen as an attempt to buttress a public unity behind Mr Kim as he faces pandemic-related economic hardships, a security threat posed by the boosted US-South Korean military alliance and other difficulties.
“Through seven times of launching drills of the tactical nuclear operation units, the actual war capabilities … of the nuclear combat forces ready to hit and wipe out the set objects at any location and any time were displayed to the full,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
KCNA said the missile tests were in response to recent naval drills between US and South Korean forces, which involved the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Viewing the drills as a military threat, North Korea decided to stage “the simulation of an actual war” to check and improve its war deterrence and send a warning to its enemies, KCNA said.
North Korea considers US-South Korean military drills as an invasion rehearsal, though the allies have steadfastly said they are defensive in nature. Since the May inauguration of a conservative government in Seoul, the US and South Korean militaries have been expanding their exercises, which had been previously scaled back due to the pandemic and the now-dormant nuclear diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington.
The launches — all supervised by Mr Kim — included a nuclear-capable ballistic missile launched under a reservoir in the northeast, another ballistic missile designed to strike South Korean airfields and a new-type ground-to-ground ballistic missile that flew over Japan, KCNA reported.
Mr Kim also made it clear again that he has no intentions of resuming the disarmament diplomacy with the United States and would rather focus on expanding his weapons arsenal. He added that he would take all unspecified military steps necessary to respond to potential additional moves by South Korea and the United States.
South Korean officials recently said North Korea maintains readiness to perform its seventh nuclear test while preparing to test a new liquid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile and a submarine-launched ballistic missile.
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