Seoul, South Korea – North Korean leader Kim Jong supervised the tests of short -range ballistic missile systems that simulated nuclear contracts against US and South Korean forces, state media said Friday, while the north continued to blame their rivals for increasing tensions through their joint military exercises.
The report came a day later The South Korean army detected multiple releases From the Eastern Coast of North Korea and evaluated that the tests could also be related to weapons exports to Russia during their war in Ukraine.
The official Korean news agency of North Korea said that Thursday’s tests involved a mobile Balistic missile system apparently modeled after the Iskander of Russiaas well as multiple 600 millimeter rocket launchers that South Korean officials classify as ballistic due to their self -propeller and guided flight. Both are part of a growing line of weapons systems that the north, according to the north, could be armed with “tactical” nuclear weapons for the use of the battlefield.
KCNA said the tests were intended to train military units that operate missiles and rocket systems to more effectively execute attacks under the Northern Nuclear Weapons Control System and guarantee a quick response to a nuclear crisis.
The agency criticized the United States and its “vassal states” to expand the joint military exercises in the Korean Peninsula and around the Korean Peninsula, which the North states that they are preparations for nuclear war, and said that Thursday’s launches demonstrated the “rapid posture of counter -ups” of their forces.
Kim emphasized the need to strengthen the role of his nuclear forces both determining and in the fight against war, and asked for continuous efforts to improve combat preparation and precision attack capabilities, Kcna said.
South Korea’s team chiefs said that multiple missiles of various types were launched from the area around Wonsan’s Eastern Port City on Thursday from approximately 8:10 to 9:20 am, and the furthest travels travel about 800 kilometers (497 miles).
Lee Sung Joon, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs, said in an informative session that North Korea launches possibly intended to prove the performance of the weapons that plans to export, as the country continues Send military teams and troops to feed the Russian war against Ukraine.
The Japanese Minister of Defense, Gen Nakatani, told journalists that none of the North Korean missiles reached the exclusive economic zone of Japan and that there was no damage to ships or airplanes in the area.
It was the first known ballistic activity of the north since March 10, when he fired several ballistic missiles hours after US and South Korean troops began an annual combined military exercise and the sixth launch event of the country of the year.
Tensions about the Korean Peninsula have intensified in recent months as North Korean leader Kim Jong continues to accelerate the development of its nuclear and missile program and supply weapons and troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The launch of Thursday occurred one day after state media from North Korea said. Kim urged ammunition workers to promote the production of artillery shells In the midst of its deep alignment with Moscow.
