Kim Jong-un tests North Korea’s ‘nuclear trigger’ (PHOTOS)
Pyongyang has held a large-scale “counterattack” drill
North Korea has carried out drills that simulate a nuclear counterattack against enemy targets, state media reported on Tuesday. Leader Kim Jong-un personally observed several “super-large” multiple rocket launchers firing a salvo of missiles towards an island in the Sea of Japan.
The drills were held on Monday and came just days after Pyongyang tested a new “super-large warhead” cruise missile and a new type of anti-aircraft missile. The US and South Korean air forces also continue to hold joint exercises on the peninsula.
The main purpose of Pyongyang’s exercise was to test for the first time the country’s so-called “nuclear trigger” command and control system, as well as strengthen “[the] prompt counterattack capacity of the state nuclear force,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) wrote. Military units honed the procedures and the order of operations in a hypothetical scenario in which North Korea’s highest level nuclear crisis alarm is issued in response to an attack.
The salvo of missiles with simulated nuclear warheads “accurately” hit the island target some 352km away, KCNA stated. North Korean leader Kim expressed “great satisfaction” with the results of the exercise, it added.
The US, South Korea, and Japan have all condemned the launches as a threat to regional and international peace and security. The issue will be “on the agenda” when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels to China this week, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told the press on Monday.
READ MORE: Japan and South Korea accuse North of missile launches
Pyongyang has dubbed the drills a “clear warning signal” to its “enemies,” accusing them of running a “military confrontation racket.” Joint US and South Korean air force exercises, set to continue until April 26, have run a hundred sorties per day on average, while not even trying to conceal their “extremely provocative and aggressive nature,” KCNA claimed.