North Korea’s Kim supervises firing drills simulating preemptive attacks on South Korea

Seoul, South Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised firing exercises with multiple launchers of nuclear-capable “super-large” rockets to show off the country’s ability to carry out pre-emptive strikes against rival South Korea, state media reported Friday.

The firing drills are an apparent reference to the alleged barrage of ballistic missile test launches that South Korea said North Korea carried out on Thursday. Experts say North Korea’s large artillery rockets blur the lines between artillery systems and short-range ballistic missiles because they can create their own thrust and are guided during their launch.

The North’s Korean Central News Agency reported that its latest weapons tests are aimed at demonstrating North Korea’s determination to not hesitate to launch a pre-emptive strike against South Korea if threatened. It quoted Kim as saying that the exercises “will serve as an occasion to clearly show what consequences our rivals will face if they provoke us.”

The KCNA accused South Korea of ​​organizing a “clumsy reaction of dangerous armed demonstration against the exercise of legitimate sovereign right” by North Korea.

This refers to a South Korean aerial exercise held hours before the failed launch of North Korea’s spy satellite on Monday night. If successful, North Korea would have launched its second spy satellite into orbit.

Multiple rocket launchers are one of North Korea’s main weapons systems aimed at South Korea. North Korea says weapons fired from launchers can carry tactical nuclear warheads.

Photos published by state media showed Kim watching from a distance at least 18 projectiles rising after being fired from launch trucks. South Korea’s military earlier said North Korea fired about 10 suspected ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast.

North Korea’s failed launch of a spy satellite drew strong condemnation from the United States, South Korea and other countries because the UN prohibits any launch of satellites by North Korea, considering them as cover for testing missile technologies. . North Korea maintains it has the right to launch satellites and test missiles.

In recent years, North Korea has been involved in a series of weapons tests to bolster its nuclear capabilities to meet what it calls intensified military threats from the United States. Foreign experts say North Korea would eventually try to use a larger nuclear arsenal to extract greater concessions from the United States when diplomacy resumes.

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Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.