North Korea's Kim directs cruise missile test as S.Korea, US begin
drills
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[August 21, 2023]
By Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a test of
strategic cruise missiles, state news agency KCNA said on Monday, as
South Korea and the United States kicked off annual military drills that
Pyongyang sees as a rehearsal for war.
Kim visited a navy fleet stationed on the east coast to oversee the test
aboard a warship, KCNA said, without specifying the date of his trip.
The launch aimed to verify the "combat function of the ship and the
feature of its missile system", while improving sailors' capability to
carry out an "attack mission in actual war", KCNA said, adding that the
ship's missile hit its target.
Kim said the ship would maintain "high mobility and mighty striking
power and constant preparedness for combat to cope with sudden
situations," KCNA said.
South Korea's defense ministry said it had detected signs of the launch,
but that the KCNA claims were "exaggerated" and "different from the
facts", but did not elaborate.
The latest missile test came as South Korea and the United States began
the Ulchi Freedom Shield summer exercises on Monday, designed to enhance
their joint responses to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.
Pyongyang has denounced the allies' military drills as a rehearsal for
nuclear war.
South Korea's military has said this year's exercises will be held on
the "largest scale ever", involving tens of thousands of troops from
both sides, as well as some member states of the U.N. Command.
President Yoon Suk Yeol said the drills would feature several
contingency scenarios, such as cyber, terror and drone attacks, and a
disinformation campaign by the North.
"True peace is preserved only by overwhelming force, not by one-sided
begging or goodwill," Yoon told a meeting of the National Security
Council.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversees
a strategic cruise missile test aboard a navy warship in this
undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)
on August 21, 2023. KCNA via REUTERS
"North Korea talks about preemptive nuclear strikes and preparations
for an offensive war, but we will immediately and overwhelmingly
retaliate for any provocations."
South Korean lawmakers have said the North could test-fire an
intercontinental ballistic missile or take other military action to
protest the allies' drills or last week's summit of South Korea, the
United States and Japan.
Over the past two years, North Korea has been testing what it calls
"strategic cruise missiles," which some analysts have said could be
tipped with nuclear warheads. While modernizing and bolstering its
naval power, North Korea showcased a new, nuclear-capable underwater
attack drone in March.
Choi Il, a former navy officer who runs a think tank focusing on
naval power, said the missiles can fly more than 1,000 km (621
miles) and hit land-based targets, and the new ship appears to be a
corvette-class vessel, designed to minimize radar detection.
Aboard the ship, Kim vowed to reinforce the navy with improved
combat efficiency and modern means of surface and underwater
offensive and defensive capabilities, KCNA said.
"We would put spurs to the modernization of naval weapons and
equipment, including the building of powerful warships and the
development of shipboard and underwater weapon systems," it quoted
the leader as saying.
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Gerry Doyle and Clarence
Fernandez)
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