North Korea announced on Friday that it had fired cruise missiles the day before, saying the intensification of US-South Korean military exercises “can be seen as a declaration of war”.
This declaration came after the two allies conducted a simulation exercise in Washington of a nuclear conflict with North Korea.
North Korean forces held a “strategic cruise missile launch exercise” in the early hours of Thursday, firing four Hwasal-2s, North Korea’s official KCNA news agency reported on Friday.
“The exercise clearly demonstrated once again the war posture of the nuclear combat force of the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea, editor’s note), strengthening its counterattack capabilities in the face of hostile forces,” the agency said.
South Korea’s defense ministry questioned that description of the test, saying there was a difference between what was announced and what U.S. and South Korean monitoring detected. Seoul added that the analysis was ongoing.
Current UN sanctions do not prohibit North Korea from firing cruise missiles, but Thursday’s exercise followed multiple weapons tests this week – including an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) – which were condemned as “provocative actions” by the UN chief.
Pyongyang called the criticism “unfair and unbalanced” and on Friday called on the world body – which met this week to discuss the North Korean launches – to “harshly condemn” Seoul and Washington for their joint military exercises.
After a year in which the North has called its status as a nuclear power “irreversible” and fired a record number of missiles, Seoul and Washington have decided to intensify their joint exercises and redeploy American strategic resources in the region. .
South Korea is eager to reassure its increasingly nervous population of the United States’ commitment to expanded deterrence, in which American assets, including nuclear weapons, are used to prevent attacks on allies.
Seoul does not possess atomic weapons and remains officially committed to nuclear non-proliferation, even as there are mounting calls domestically to consider obtaining its own nuclear weapons.
The joint simulation conducted at the Pentagon sparked discussions on “potential responses to the use of nuclear weapons” by North Korea.
Joint exercises between the United States and South Korea inevitably arouse the ire of North Korea, which considers them to be rehearsals for an invasion.
Shortly after the simulation, Pyongyang released a statement saying Washington’s “hostile and provocative practices…may be considered a declaration of war.”
“The only way to prevent the vicious circle of escalating military tensions (…) is for the United States to adopt a clear and concrete position, such as abandoning its commitment to deploy strategic means” and the cessation of joint exercises, he added.
Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul are at a multi-year low, with talks stalled and Kim Jong Un calling for “exponential” growth in arms production, including tactical nuclear weapons.
In 2022, Pyongyang conducted a series of ballistic and missile tests in violation of UN resolutions.
The North Korean leader’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, further described the Pacific this week as the country’s “firing range”.
North Korea should stop spending on military development as its people go hungry, South Korea’s unification ministry said on Friday.
The cost of the three ballistic missiles it fired this week “is enough to buy about 100,000 tons of food for about two to three million vulnerable people for about five months,” spokesman Lee Hyo-jung told reporters. ministry assistant.
South Korean authorities recently warned that North Korea could face severe food shortages after years of pandemic-related isolation.
24/02/2023 08:22:01 – Seoul (AFP) © 2023 AFP