SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea stated Friday it test-launched new anti-aircraft missiles, as its navy threatened unspecified grave steps in opposition to the U.S. and South Korea over their joint military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal.
The official Korean Central Information Company stated that chief Kim Jong Un oversaw the assessments Thursday and referred to as the missiles concerned “one other main protection weapons system” for North Korea.
The missile launches, North Korea’s sixth weapons testing exercise this yr, occurred on the identical day that the U.S. and South Korean militaries concluded their annual Freedom Protect command put up train. The 11-day coaching was the allies’ first main joint navy workout routines for the reason that inauguration of President Donald Trump in January, and the 2 international locations held various discipline coaching workout routines alongside the Freedom Protect drills.
U.S. and South Korean officers describe their mixed navy drills as defensive in nature, however North Korea slams them as a serious safety menace. Hours after this yr’s Freedom Protect coaching started on March 10, North Korea fired several ballistic missiles into the ocean.
On Friday, the North Korea’s Protection Ministry alleged the latest U.S.-South Korean drills concerned simulations to destroy underground tunnels within the North to take away its nuclear weapons. An unidentified ministry spokesperson stated the U.S. and South Korea would face penalties in the event that they carry out comparable provocative actions once more.
“The amassed reckless navy strikes of the U.S. and the ROK, seized with the daydream that they’ll jeopardize the sovereignty and safety of a nuclear weapons state, can undoubtedly deliver the gravest penalties they are not looking for,” the spokesperson stated in a press release carried in KCNA.
ROK is the Republic of Korea, South Korea’s official identify.
North Korea usually churns out warlike rhetoric and threats of assaults when the U.S. and South Korea militaries conduct massive drills.
Trump has stated he is prepared to achieve out to Kim to revive their diplomacy, however North Korea hasn’t made any public responses to Trump’s overture. Many consultants say Kim, now preoccupied along with his support of Russia’s war efforts in opposition to Ukraine, will not doubtless embrace Trump’s outreach anytime quickly, however might significantly take into account it when the conflict ends.
Kim and Trump met 3 times in 2018-19 to debate North Korea’s attainable nuclear disarmament, however their diplomacy eventually fell apart resulting from disputes over U.S.-led financial sanctions on North Korea.
