In an exercise meant to show off its capability to launch a nuclear strike against adversarial forces. North Korea test-fired four strategic cruise missiles, according to official media on Friday.
According to state news agency KCNA, the exercise on Thursday involved a Korean People’s Army strategic cruise missile unit. The same appeared to be in operation. The unit further fired four “Hwasal-2” missiles into the sea off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula. In the vicinity of Kim Chaek City in North Hamgyong Province. Some units also trained their weaponry at fortified locations without using live ammunition, it also said.
The four strategic cruise missiles completed “2000km-long elliptical and eight-shaped flying circles for 10,208 seconds to 10,224 seconds.” According to the report, before striking a predetermined target.
The back to back drills show war readiness:
According to KCNA, the exercise showed how the DPRK nuclear battle force was in a “war posture.” It had also “bolstered in every aspect its lethal nuclear counterattack capacity against the hostile forces.”
South Korea and Japan, frequently track and report on North Korean launches, did not make any announcements about the missiles. The potential of North Korea using a nuclear bomb was therefore the focus of a table top exercise that US and South Korean officials participated in. Military also announced on Thursday.
Notwithstanding restrictions imposed by United Nations Security Council resolutions that forbid the nuclear-armed state’s missile programmes, North Korea has made steady progress in the development and mass production of ballistic missiles.
State media has described a number of launches, including an ICBM launch on Saturday, as training exercises meant to enhance the skills of the soldiers using the weapons.
According to South Korean lawmakers on Wednesday, citing intelligence authorities, North Korea could test-fire ICBMs on a lower, longer trajectory and carry out its seventh nuclear test this year to improve its weapons capabilities.
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