State media reported on Thursday that North Korea claimed it had launched two short-range ballistic missiles as part of a “tactical nuclear strike drill” in response to US-South Korean military drills.
The launches came a day before the end of the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield operations, which always irritate Pyongyang, and hours after Washington sent out B-1B bombers for joint air maneuvers with Seoul.
The missiles were launched late Wednesday night, according to the North’s army, as part of a “tactical nuclear strike drill simulating scorched earth strikes at major command centers and operational airfields” in South Korea on the other side of the border.
The “tactical ballistic missiles” were fired northeastward from Pyongyang International Airport and “correctly carried out (their) nuclear strike mission”, the army said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
“The drill is aimed to send a clear message to the enemies,” it added.
Just before midnight, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea claimed to have discovered two short-range ballistic missiles fired from the North toward the East Sea, often known as the Sea of Japan.
According to a statement from the JCS, the missiles traveled about 360 kilometers before coming to rest in the water. South Korean and US intelligence authorities are currently analyzing the launches.
According to Tokyo, both missiles are likely to have landed outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, close to the Korean Peninsula’s east coast.
In reaction to the US-South Korean exercises, during which Kim Jong Un visited a training command post, Pyongyang’s army also held command-level maneuvers on Tuesday, according to a second report from KCNA.
According to the statement, the exercise simulated repelling an unexpected assault and mounting a counterattack to seize “the entire southern half.”
The “making simultaneous super-intense strikes” at key military installations to create “socio-political and economic chaos” was one of Kim’s planned future military strategies.
Kim was shown pointing to what looked to be South Korea on a hazy map of the Korean peninsula while being surrounded by military men, according to images published by the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
