PYONGYANG – – North Korea reportedly fired a number of cruise missiles into the country’s eastern waters on Wednesday (22/3/2023). The launch comes just three days after Kim Jong-un’s government carried out another launch in what it says is a simulated nuclear attack on South Korea.
Today’s launch was the fourth missile test since South Korea and the United States (US) held large-scale joint exercises last week. Pyongyang regards these exercises as invasion rehearsals.
The joint US-South Korean exercises which will last for 11 days will end on Thursday (23/3) tomorrow. Even so, it is believed that Pyongyang will still launch missile launches considering the US wants to send an aircraft carrier to the Korean Peninsula.
The Associated Press reported, based on a report by South Korea’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that a number of cruise missiles were launched by North Korea from Hamhung, a city in the northeast of the country. The cruise missiles then landed in North Korean waters east.
Experts argue that, like ballistic missiles, North Korea’s cruise missiles present a distinct threat to its neighbours. North Korean cruise missiles are designed to fly low to avoid radar detection.
Pyongyang itself maintains that its cruise missiles are of strategic value. North Korea plans to arm cruise missiles with nuclear warheads.
Throughout 2023, North Korea has launched about 20 missiles on 10 different occasions. Pyongyang is also testing a short-range ballistic missile that can reach South Korea and an intercontinental ballistic missile that can reach the United States.
Source: Kompas TV