North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, has supervised the launch of what state media described as “cutting-edge” hypersonic missiles, saying the test was meant to prepare Pyongyang’s nuclear forces for war amid rising global tensions, a pointed reference to the United States’ weekend action in Venezuela.
South Korea and Japan said they detected the firing of two ballistic missiles from near Pyongyang on Sunday, marking North Korea’s first weapons test of the year.
The launch came just hours before South Korean President Lee Jae Myung departed for Beijing, where he hopes to enlist China’s influence over Pyongyang to help ease inter-Korean relations.
On Monday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted Kim as saying the test demonstrated “the readiness of the DPRK’s nuclear forces,” using North Korea’s official name.
“Important achievements have been recently made in putting our nuclear forces on a practical basis and preparing them for an actual war,” Kim said, according to KCNA.
He added that Pyongyang’s weapons development was “aimed at gradually putting the nuclear war deterrent on a high-developed basis”.
Images released by state media showed Kim smoking a cigarette alongside senior officials as a missile streaked into the dawn sky.
Kim also linked the test to recent world events. “Why it is necessary is exemplified by the recent geopolitical crisis and complicated international events,” he was quoted as saying, an apparent nod to Washington’s weekend capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Such an operation represents a worst-case scenario for North Korea’s leadership, which has long warned of a potential US “decapitation strike” and accused Washington of plotting regime change.
Pyongyang condemned the move on Sunday as a “serious encroachment of sovereignty” that “clearly confirms once again the rogue and brutal nature of the US”.
‘War deterrent’
North Korea has long defended its nuclear and missile programmes as a necessary deterrent against what it calls hostile US policy.
According to Hong Min, an analyst at the Seoul-based Korea Institute for National Unification, Sunday’s launch “can be interpreted as a message signalling that Pyongyang possesses a war deterrent and nuclear capabilities, unlike Venezuela.”
He noted that state media also reported Kim’s visit to a facility producing tactical guided weapons, which he said “demonstrated a capability to launch more precise strikes than existing multiple rocket launchers from various platforms, including air and ground”.
Pyongyang first tested its new hypersonic missile system in October. Hypersonic weapons travel at more than five times the speed of sound and can change course mid-flight, making them difficult to detect and intercept.
Such missiles were used extensively last year by Russia in Ukraine and by Iran against Israel, two countries with which North Korea has strengthened ties in recent years.
