Kim Jong-un took advantage of a new missile firing exercise he was attending to send a message to the North Korean army and, at the same time, to the international community, reported on Friday March 10, the official KCNA agency.
North Korea must “regularly intensify the various real war simulation exercises, in a diversified way and in different situations”, said Mr. Kim, according to KCNA. In addition, the North Korean leader ordered soldiers to prepare for “two strategic missions: first, to deter war and, second, to initiate war”.
Footage released by KCNA on Friday showed the simultaneous launch of six missiles by the Hwasong unit, trained for “strike missions”the agency said, according to which the unit “fired a mighty salvo [de missiles] on the targeted waters of the West Korean Sea”. The day before, the South Korean army announced that it had detected the launch of a short-range ballistic missile towards the sea off its west coast, fired from the port city of Nampo, south of Pyongyang.
” Declaration of war “
The military exercise comes as Seoul and Washington prepare to conduct their largest joint military exercises in five years on Monday. Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul are at a multi-year low, and talks have stalled.
Earlier this week, North Korea accused the United States of stoking ” intentionally ” tensions and Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong-un’s very powerful sister, warned that if the United States intercepted one of Pyongyang’s missile tests, it would be seen as a ” declaration of war “.
During this military training, the North Korean leader appeared accompanied by his ten-year-old daughter Ju-ae, considered by some analysts to be the future heiress of the regime. His recent appearance alongside his father at a major military parade last month, to mark the 75e anniversary of the founding of the country’s army, had already revived speculation about a future transfer of dynastic power.
The Air Force, the weak link
“It would seem that the presence of Ju-ae at major events related to the North’s nuclear development and its missiles – which Pyongyang deems to be of crucial use for the country’s future generations – has become the norm”Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
North Korea has long claimed that its ballistic and nuclear programs are for self-defense. She also condemned the recent joint exercises by Seoul and Washington, considering them as dress rehearsals for an invasion of her territory.
The North Korean air force is the weakest link in its military apparatus, experts say, who believe that the exercises in Pyongyang on Thursday are proof that the regime is trying to fill this weakness. “North Korea’s latest maneuvers, like many of the previous ones, are aimed at preventing South Korean warplanes from taking off”defector An Chan-il, director of the World Institute for North Korean Studies, told AFP.