Ajit Karn
Seoul: North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile on Thursday, according to Seoul’s military, in its most recent show of force just days before South Korea and the United States begin significant joint military exercises.
Hours later, Pyongyang’s KCNA news agency reported that Kim Jong Un witnessed “a powerful salvo” by an artillery unit “prepared to respond to actual conflict.”
The report does not specify what weapons Kim observed during the “fire assault exercise” that simulated the destruction of an enemy airport.
Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in decades, with the nuclear-armed North undertaking increasingly provocative and illegal weapons tests, while South Korea stepped up its security cooperation with the United States in retaliation.
Kim’s regime declared North Korea a “irreversible” nuclear power and swore to exponentially increase weapons production, including tactical nuclear weapons, as the United States prepares to deploy additional forces to the region to defend ally Seoul.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff of Seoul stated that they “detected the launch of a short-range ballistic missile from the North’s western port city of Nampo at 6:20 pm (0920 GMT)”
It added that it was examining “the possibility that North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles simultaneously from the same region.”
“Our military maintains a full readiness posture while cooperating closely with the U.S. as we have increased surveillance and vigilance,” the document stated.
North Korea has long asserted that its nuclear weapons and missile programmes are for self-defense, and it has criticised US-South Korean military drills as invasion rehearsals.
This week, North Korea accused the United States of “deliberately” escalating tensions, and Kim’s powerful sister warned that intercepting one of Pyongyang’s missile tests would be interpreted as a “manifest declaration of war.”
– ‘Freedom Shield’ –
Diplomacy has stalled and the North has accelerated its military development since talks between Kim and the then-president of the United States, Donald Trump, broke down in 2019.
In response to escalating threats from Pyongyang, the hawkish president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, has increased diplomatic ties and security cooperation with Tokyo and Washington.
President Joe Biden will host Yoon for a state visit on April 26, and the South Korean leader will also visit Tokyo next week, according to his office.
The United States and South Korea will conduct their largest joint exercises in five years this month.
The allies conducted air drills this week featuring a nuclear-capable US B-52 heavy bomber in advance of the “Freedom Shield” exercises, which are scheduled to last at least 10 days beginning on March 13.
Professor Leif-Eric Easley from Ewha University in Seoul stated, “This is likely just the beginning of a series of provocative tests by North Korea.”
“Pyongyang is prepared to respond aggressively to major US-South Korea military exercises, as well as President Yoon’s upcoming summits with (Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US President Joe Biden),” he said.
Also read: Australia’s Prime Minister refers to India as a “Top Security Partner.”
The Kim regime could order longer-range missile launches, attempt the launch of a spy satellite, demonstrate a solid-fuel engine, and possibly conduct a nuclear test.
Following U.S.-South Korean military drills, North Korea has framed its missile tests and military exercises as justifiable countermeasures.
Last week, it urged the United Nations to urge a halt to these exercises and reaffirmed that its nuclear weapons ensured a power balance in the region.
