The lull lasted only a few days. After firing two short-range ballistic missiles on Monday and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) 48 hours earlier, North Korea conducted four test cruise missile launches into the sea, know, Friday, February 24, the North Korean official agency KCNA.
At the same time, the delegations of the United States and South Korea announced that they had conducted, in Washington, a simulation exercise of a nuclear conflict with Pyongyang.
The four North Korean “Hwasal-2” missiles were fired on Thursday from the vicinity of the city of Kimchaek, located in North Hamgyong province, towards the East Sea, also known as sea of Japan. They followed a trajectory of 2,000 km before reaching ” precisely “ their objective, according to the official agency, which did not specify what the targets were.
“The Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea expressed its great satisfaction with the results of the launch exercise”added the North Korean media. “The exercise clearly demonstrated once again the war posture of the DPRK’s nuclear combat force. [République populaire démocratique de Corée, le nom officiel de la Corée du Nord], strengthening its counter-attack capabilities against hostile forces”further specifies the agency.
Visit to an American submarine base
These missile tests were in response to joint military exercises between South Korea, Japan and the United States in the Sea of Japan on Wednesday.
In addition, Washington and Seoul also expanded their collaboration that same day during new simulations carried out in the American capital. “Given North Korea’s recent aggressive nuclear policy and the progress of its nuclear capabilities, the (…) script [de la simulation] focused on the possibility of North Korea using nuclear weapons”they explained in a joint statement.
The United States and South Korean delegations, made up of military personnel and officials from the ministries of defense and foreign affairs of the two countries, carried out these simulations at the Pentagon and “focused their discussions on the deterrent force of their alliance (…) and on potential responses to the use of nuclear weapons” by North Korea.
Washington, like Seoul, reaffirmed that they were “ready to respond to nuclear threats” from Pyongyang. The delegations that participated in this tabletop exercise then visited a submarine base in the US state of Georgia on Thursday.
Pyongyang promises “countermeasures”
The United States has recently sought to reassure South Korea of its expanded deterrent capability to its allies, after North Korea declared in September 2022 that its status as a nuclear state was now “irreversible”.
In a statement released on Monday, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned that Pyongyang would continue to monitor moves by Washington and Seoul to deploy more US strategic assets in the region, promising “corresponding countermeasures” with every perceived threat.
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Pyongyang also conducted a series of ballistic and missile tests in violation of United Nations resolutions, and brought five drones across the border with South Korea on December 26, 2022, a first in five years, prompting Seoul to do so. dispatch fighter planes.