A news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul on July 19, 2023. PHOTO: AFP
SEOUL (Reuters/AFP): North Korea fired several cruise missiles towards the sea to the west of the Korean Peninsula, the South Korean military said on Saturday.
This would be North Korea’s latest missile launch since it fired two ballistic missiles on Wednesday, as Pyongyang and Washington step up their display of military force in a stand-off over the isolated country’s nuclear weapons and missile programmes.
A number of cruise missiles launched on Saturday at around 4am local time were detected, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
“South Korean and US intelligence authorities were analysing the launches while monitoring signs of additional activities,” the JCS said.
On Wednesday, North Korea fired missiles hours after a United States nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine surfaced for a rare visit to South Korea – the first time in decades.
The recent weapons tests are the latest in a series by Pyongyang and come as Seoul and Washington ramp up defence cooperation in the face of soaring tensions with the North.
Diplomacy between Pyongyang and Seoul has stalled and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for the ramping up of weapons development, including tactical nukes.
In response, Seoul and Washington have staged joint military exercises with advanced stealth jets and US strategic assets, with the US nuclear-armed submarine making its South Korean port call.
On Thursday, North Korea’s Defence Minister Kang Sun Nam said the Ohio-class submarine’s deployment may have fallen “under the conditions of the use of nuclear weapons specified in the DPRK law on the nuclear force policy”, using the abbreviation for North Korea’s official name.
A day later, South Korea’s defence ministry reiterated that any use of nuclear weapons by the North would prompt an “immediate and decisive response” resulting in the “end” of the Kim regime.
The latest launch also comes as a US soldier is believed to be in Pyongyang’s custody after breaking away from a tour group visiting the Demilitarised Zone.
The US has said it is “very concerned” about how Private Second Class Travis King would be treated, and that, as of Thursday, Pyongyang had yet to respond to inquiries about the soldier.
Pte King was due to return to the US to face military discipline after serving jail time in South Korea for assault. - Reuters/ AFP
