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.
