North Korea’s Kim directs cruise missile check as South Korea-US drills start

AFP

North Korean chief Kim Jong Un oversaw a check of strategic cruise missiles, state media KCNA stated on Monday, as South Korea and the US kicked off annual army drills that Pyongyang sees as a rehearsal for battle.

Kim visited a navy fleet stationed on the east coast to supervise the check aboard a warship, KCNA stated, with out specifying the date of his journey.

The launch was geared toward verifying the “combat function of the ship and the feature of its missile system,” whereas bettering the sailors’ functionality to hold out an “attack mission in actual war”, KCNA stated, noting that the ship’s missile hit its goal.

Kim touted the ship for sustaining “high mobility and mighty striking power and constant preparedness for combat to cope with sudden situations,” KCNA stated.

South Korea’s defence ministry stated it had detected indicators of the launch, however that the claims in KCNA had been “exaggerated” and “different from the facts,” with out elaborating.

The newest missile check got here as South Korea and the US started the Ulchi Freedom Shield summer season workouts on Monday, designed to reinforce their joint responses to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

Pyongyang has denounced the allies’ army drills as a rehearsal for nuclear battle.

South Korea’s army has stated this yr’s workouts might be held on the “largest scale ever”, mobilising tens of hundreds of troops from either side, in addition to some member states of the UN Command.

President Yoon Suk Yeol stated the drills could be performed below a number of contingency eventualities, together with cyber, terror and drone assaults, and a disinformation marketing campaign from the North.

“True peace is preserved only by overwhelming force, not by one-sided begging or goodwill,” Yoon informed a gathering of the National Security Council. “North Korea talks about preemptive nuclear strikes and preparations for an offensive war, but we will immediately and overwhelmingly retaliate for any provocations.”

South Korean lawmakers have stated the North might test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile or take different army motion to protest the allies’ drills or final week’s summit of South Korea, the US and Japan.

North Korea has been testing what it calls “strategic cruise missiles,” which some analysts have stated could possibly be tipped with nuclear warheads, throughout the previous two years. While modernising and bolstering its naval energy, North Korea showcased a brand new, nuclear-capable underwater assault drone in March.

Aboard the ship, Kim vowed to strengthen the navy with “improved combat efficiency and full modern means of surface and underwater offensive and defensive” capabilities, KCNA stated.

“We would put spurs to the modernisation of naval weapons and equipment, including the building of powerful warships and the development of shipboard and underwater weapon systems,” he was quoted as saying.