North Korea Launches Cruise Missiles While South Korea And US Begin Military Drills

The North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly oversaw a test of strategic cruise missiles, per the report of a state news agency named the KCNA on Monday, as South Korea and the US have recently kicked off their yearly military drills that Pyongyang refers to as a preparation for war.

Kim visited a navy fleet stationed on the east coast to supervise the test on a warship, the KCNA reported, without explicitly mentioning the date of the trip.

The launch verified the ship’s combat function and the feature of its missile system while enhancing the sailors’ capability to conduct an attack mission in an actual war, per KCNA, adding that the ship’s missile hit the target.

Kim further said that the vessel would maintain high mobility and striking power and continuous preparedness for the combat to cope with sudden situations, the KCNA reported.

South Korea’s defence ministry informed that it had detected the signs of the launch, but the KCNA claims were seemingly “exaggerated” and different from the facts but did not want to elaborate.

The latest missile test came as the US and South Korea started on Monday on the Ulchi Freedom Shield summer exercises, designed to enhance joint responses to North Korea’s missile and nuclear threats.

Pyongyang has also denounced the allies’ military drills as part of a rehearsal for the nuclear war.

The South Korean military has mentioned that 2023 exercises will be held on the biggest scale ever, involving tens of thousands of troops from both sides alongside some member states that belong to the UN Command.

Yoon Suk Yeol, the President, mentioned that the drills would feature several contingency scenes, like terror, cyber, and drone attacks, as well as a stringent disinformation campaign by the North.

References: The Print, Reuters, sharjah24.ae, New York Post

North Korea Launches Cruise Missiles While South Korea And US Begin Military Drills appeared first on Marine Insight – The Maritime Industry Guide

Source: Maritime Shipping News