North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw new tests of strategic cruise missiles and anti-warship missiles launched from a naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday.
The weapons tests occurred on Sunday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, and are the latest in a string of missile launches by the nuclear-armed nation.
Two strategic cruise missiles each flew for just over two hours, KCNA reported, while the anti-warship missiles flew for 33 minutes.
Photo: EPA / Korean Central News Agency
The missiles flew “along the flight orbits set in the sky above the West Sea of Korea and struck the targets with ultra-precision hit accuracy,” KCNA said, using its preferred name for the Yellow Sea.
The tests were carried out from the Choe Hyon, one of two destroyers in North Korea’s arsenal, both launched last year as Kim seeks to ramp up the nation’s naval capabilities.
A photograph released by KCNA showed a missile in its initial flight stage after being launched from the warship, with an orange flame trailing from its tail.
KCNA said Kim was also briefed on planning for the weapons systems of two more destroyers under construction, referred to simply as “Nos. 3 and 4.”
Kim reportedly “expressed great satisfaction over the fact that the preparedness of our army’s strategic action has been strengthened.”
He reiterated that bolstering North Korea’s nuclear deterrent is the “most important priority task.”
North Korea has previously said that the Choe Hyon is equipped with the “most powerful weapons,” and Kim has made multiple inspections of the vessels in its class since last month.
Analysts said that the missile launch aimed to show North Korea’s longtime adversary, the US, that any war would be very different from Washington’s conflict with Iran.
“The continuation of similar launches fired from a warship is a direct message to Washington that it will effectively cripple a fleet of US warships and air carriers in times of war,” said Lim Eul-chul from the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University. “One striking difference from the Iranians is that its anti-ship cruise missiles are designed to carry tactical nuclear warheads. North Koreans are taking the Iran war as cautionary example.”
A South Korean lawmaker earlier this month said that North Korea appeared to be speeding up construction of its third such destroyer at the western port city of Nampo.
Citing satellite imagery from a US-based intelligence firm, Yoo Yong-won of the opposition People Power Party said North Korea was “accelerating the naval forces’ modernization on the back of military assistance from Russia.”
North Korea has sent ground troops and artillery shells to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and observers say Pyongyang is receiving military technology assistance from Moscow in return.
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