(AFP) – North Korea has test-fired sea-to-surface strategic guided cruise missiles, state news agency KCNA reported Sunday, adding that the weapons “precisely” hit their targets. “The war deterrence means of the armed forces of the DPRK are being perfected more thoroughly”, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said as he oversaw Saturday’s test, the agency reported. The missiles hit their marks after travelling along the 1,500-kilometre (930-mile) elliptical and figure-eight orbits, the report said, adding that there was “no negative impact on the security of neighbouring countries”. KCNA did not say where the test took place.
The weapons test by Pyongyang was the first since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House on Monday. Shortly before his inauguration, North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles into the sea. Trump, who had a rare series of meetings with Kim during his first term in office, said in an interview aired Thursday that he would reach out to Kim again, calling the North Korean leader a “smart guy”. The two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950 to 1953 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have been at one of their lowest points in years, with the North launching a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions. On Sunday, KCNA carried a statement from North Korea’s foreign ministry criticising Washington and Seoul for carrying out joint military drills in recent days. “The reality stresses that the DPRK should counter the US with the toughest counteraction from A to Z as long as it refuses the sovereignty and security interests of the DPRK,” the statement said, referring to North Korea by its official acronym. “This is the best option for dealing with the US.”
Such joint military exercises regularly infuriate the nuclear-armed North, which decries them as rehearsals for invasion. In late October, North Korea test-fired what it said was its most advanced and powerful solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It then fired a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles days later. US and South Korean intelligence also believe that North Korea started in October to send thousands of troops to fight against Ukraine and has since suffered hundreds of casualties. Neither North Korea nor Russia has officially confirmed that Pyongyang’s forces are fighting for Moscow.
© 2024 AFP
