SEOUL, May 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — North Korea has tested long-range multiple rocket launchers and tactical guided weapons in a “strike drill” overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, state media said.
The Korean Central News Agency said the drill took place Saturday, when
North Korea also fired projectiles into the sea in what could be Pyongyang’s
first short-range missile launch for more than a year as it seeks to up
pressure on Washington with nuclear talks deadlocked.
“The purpose of the drill was to estimate and inspect the operating
ability and the accuracy of striking duty performance of large-caliber long-
range multiple rocket launchers and tactical guided weapons by defence units in the frontline area and on the eastern front,” KCNA said.
It said the drill took place in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of
Japan, as with the projectiles.
The North last carried out a missile test in November 2017, before a rapid
diplomatic rapprochement saw tensions ease on the peninsula and a series of summits.
Seoul’s military described the weapons as “projectiles” after it detected
Saturday’s firing.
During Saturday’s drill Kim urged his troops to remember “the iron truth
that genuine peace and security are ensured and guaranteed only by powerful strength”, KCNA said.
The state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Sunday carried 16 photos of the weapons test on its front page, including a picture of a grim-looking Kim
clutching his binoculars in an observation post as well as several images of
projectiles shooting skywards.
US Pres Trump proclaimed that the North Korean nuclear threat was over after the two sides’ historic first summit in Singapore in June, when Kim pledged to work towards “complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”.
The two have since disagreed over what that means, but Trump has insisted
the leaders remain close even after their follow-up meeting in Vietnam broke up without a deal or even a joint statement, and that Kim would maintain his moratorium on long-range missile and nuclear tests.
The Saturday drill followed last month’s test-firing of very short-range
tactical weapons, and came days after a senior North Korean diplomat
chastised US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for making “foolish and
dangerous” comments during nuclear talks.
Ankit Panda of the Federation of American Scientists stressed that the
projectile launch “does not violate Kim Jong Un’s self-imposed missile-
testing moratorium”, which “only applied to intercontinental-range ballistic
missiles”.
Even so, a statement from Seoul’s presidential Blue House said it was
“greatly concerned,” calling it a violation of a military agreement signed by
both Koreas last year.
Since the collapse of the Hanoi summit, South Korean president Moon Jae-in
— who brokered the first meeting between the mercurial US and North Korean leaders — has tried to salvage diplomacy, but Pyongyang has remained largely unresponsive.
Last week, on the anniversary of the first Panmunjom summit between Moon and Kim, KCNA said Washington and Seoul “keep pushing the situation of the Korean peninsula and the region to an undesirable phase”, criticising their joint military exercises.
The North Korean drill comes just days before US special representative
Stephen Biegun is to visit Japan and South Korea for talks on Pyongyang’s
nuclear arsenal. — NNN-AGENCIES
