North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen live-fire drills involving “newly-equipped super-large” multiple rocket launchers, a day after South Korea and Japan reported the country’s launch of several short-range ballistic missiles, its first such test in about two months.
The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the drills were aimed at testing the “real war capabilities” of 600-millimetre (23 inches) multiple rocket launchers.
The exercises also involved simulating an aerial explosion of a shell at a predetermined altitude above the target, KCNA said.
“They fully demonstrated their excellent crack-shot artillery marksmanship and prompt and thorough combat readiness,” KCNA said.
Kim, who has overseen multiple tests in recent years as he pursues his plan to modernise North Korea’s military, said the rocket launchers would provide the “core central striking means” in war preparations.
“The destructive offensive means possessed by our army should more thoroughly fulfil their missions to block and suppress the possibility of war with the constant perfect preparedness to collapse the capital of the enemy and the structure of its military forces,” Kim told the troops, according to KCNA.
Seoul’s military announced on Monday it had detected the launch of “multiple short-range ballistic missiles” from North Korea.
The super-large multiple rocket launcher, referred to as KN-25 by Seoul and Washington, is a short-range ballistic missile, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
Kim watched the proceedings on a screen and appeared delighted with the outcome [KCNA via KNS and AFP]
North Korea is banned from testing ballistic missiles under long-running sanctions over its nuclear weapons programme.
“The Kim regime’s one-upmanship aims to show strength to its domestic audience, suggest costs on the Korean Peninsula for Seoul’s international security cooperation, and warn Washington against increasing pressure on Pyongyang,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, wrote in emailed comments about the latest tests.
Images published in state media showed Kim, dressed in a black leather jacket, watching the rocket launcher drills with his generals. In one picture, he looked like he was cheering as he celebrated the tests’ apparent success by punching the air with his fist.
Pyongyang has broken with much of its inter-Korean policy in recent years, scrapping a military pact with its neighbour and declaring South Korea a hostile enemy state. It has also ramped up weapons testing, launched a submarine and put its first spy satellite into space.
Kim has also stepped up his rhetoric, talking about war preparations and readiness.
When asked about the threat posed by the multiple rocket launchers, Seoul’s defence minister, Shin Won-sik, said that if Pyongyang fires a large number of conventional missiles against South Korea, it would “constitute a war” and prompt strong retaliatory attacks.
Monday’s ballistic missile test was North Korea’s second this year after Pyongyang launched one it said was tipped with a manoeuvrable hypersonic warhead on January 14.
News Related
-
Anyone who’s purchased gift baskets to hand out to loved ones this holiday season might need to find a backup present after the latest food recall that involves festive cookies. Gift basket company Wine Country Gift Baskets just announced that it is voluntarily recalling all gift baskets that feature Acorn Baking ...
See Details:
Recall Just Announced For Popular Cookies Featured In Holiday Gift Baskets
-
LOS ANGELES: Quarterback Jalen Hurts ran in an overtime touchdown to give the Philadelphia Eagles a 37-34 NFL win over the Buffalo Bills Sunday (Monday in Manila) and move them to 10-1 on the season. The Eagles, who lost the Super Bowl to Kansas City last season, trailed at half-time ...
See Details:
Eagles rally past Bills in overtime as Chiefs win
-
Yen Makabenta First word WHILE UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other promoters of the climate emergency are preparing to convene the 28th conference of the parties (COP28) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the United Arab Emirates, starting on November 30 and stretching to December 12, ...
See Details:
Reality bites the green energy agenda
-
Sandigan orders Marcos Sr. pal to pay workers The Sandiganbayan has ordered the enforcement of a July 2023 ruling ordering a Marcos Sr. associate to pay a lumber company’s workers P2.1 million in damages as well as return 60 percent of their company’s shares and pay all unpaid benefits. The ...
See Details:
Sandigan orders Marcos Sr. pal to pay workers
-
DSWD: Shear line, LPA affect 1.2 million people; over 18,000 families evacuated MANILA, Philippines – More than 18,000 families have fled to evacuation centers across flood-affected regions in the country due to the impact of the shear line and low pressure area. Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) gave ...
See Details:
DSWD: Shear line, LPA affect 1.2 million people; over 18,000 families evacuated
-
-
MANILA, Philippines: The entire Luzon, including Metro Manila, is expected to experience isolated rain showers and thunderstorms as the northeast monsoon (“amihan”) and easterlies will be affecting the country over the next 24 hours, the state-run weather agency said on Tuesday. Weather specialist Patrick del Mundo of the Philippine Atmospheric ...
See Details:
Rain showers, thunderstorms over Luzon, including Metro Manila — Pagasa
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
'Naruto' live-action film adaptation is in the works
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
NASA Highlights Stingray Nebula
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
Manila's Lagusnilad underpass opens
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
China probes debt-ridden financial giant
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
China's VUCA situation
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
Unraveling the mystery that is diabetes
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
Bangladesh's nuke plant is not going to steal PH investments
OTHER NEWS
ALIW Awards Foundation Inc. President Alice H. Reyes has released the names of finalists for the 2023 Aliw Awards to be presented on Dec. 11, 2023, at the Manila Hotel ...
Read more »
WhatsApp Web gains the feature of single-view photos and videos (Photo: Unsplash) The WhatsApp Web, the desktop version of the popular messaging app from Meta, has received an update allowing ...
Read more »
Young athletes’ time to shine in Siklab Awards MANILA, Philippines — The future heroes of Philippine sports will be honored during the third Siklab Youth Sports Awards on Dec. 4 ...
Read more »
Graphics by Jannielyn Ann Bigtas A local government official said Monday that five to 10 barangays in Northern Samar are still isolated following the massive flooding in the area last ...
Read more »
DyipPay app lets you pay jeepney fare, book tricycles “Barya lang po sa umaga.” Everyone who rides jeepneys knows this rule: it may not be an actual law, but it’s ...
Read more »
Updated In-Season Tournament Bracket ahead of pool play finale Tuesday will mark the last day of pool play for the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament. From there, six first-place teams and ...
Read more »
PCG forms teams for maritime emergency response MANILA, Philippines — Recent incidents of fishermen lost in the waters off Southern Tagalog have prompted the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to form ...
Read more »