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 should “regularly intensify the various real war simulation exercises, in a diverse manner and in different situations,” Kim Jong-un said, 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 Hwasong unit, trained for “strike missions”, launching six missiles simultaneously, the agency said, adding that the unit “fired a powerful salvo [of missiles] over 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, with talks stalled.
Earlier this week, North Korea accused the United States of “intentionally” stoking tensions and Kim Yo-jong, the very powerful sister of Kim Jong-un, warned that if the United States intercepts one of the Pyongyang’s missile tests 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 grand military parade last month, to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the country’s military, had already reignited speculation about a future dynastic handover of power in North Korea. .
The Air Force, the weak link
“It would seem that Ju-ae’s presence 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,” he told Agence France-Presse (AFP) Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
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.
North Korea’s air force is the weakest link in its military apparatus, experts say, who believe Thursday’s Pyongyang drills are proof the regime is seeking to address that 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 institute, told AFP. World of North Korean Studies.