North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen a joint strike drill involving long-range artillery and a short-range tactical ballistic missile while emphasizing the combat readiness of its nuclear forces, state media reported Friday, a day after the country launched multiple ballistic missiles.
The drill was aimed at familiarizing military units with the weapons' operations, and the test-fire verified the reliability of the command and mobilization system to quickly react during a nuclear crisis, the Korean Central News Agency said.
The drill involved a 600-millimeter multilayer rocket system and the Hwasongpho-11-Ka tactical ballistic missile, according to the KCNA.
"Stressing the need to steadily enhance the pivotal role of the nuclear force in all aspects of the strategy to deter war and the strategy to fight war," Kim said, according to the KCNA report. "It is very important to steadily perfect the normal combat readiness of the nuclear force."
Between 8:10 a.m. and 9:20 a.m. on Thursday, South Korea's military detected the launch of multiple short-range ballistic missiles of various types from the North's eastern coastal city of Wonsan, the fourth ballistic missile test by the country so far this year.
The South Korean military speculated that the launch may have been part of a performance test linked to North Korea's arms transactions with Russia.
Kim ordered a further increase in the combat reliability and operational space of the tactical nuclear weapons systems, stressing the need to enhance "the pivotal role" of nuclear forces in all aspects of the strategy to deter and fight a war, the KCNA also said.
"The radical growth of the artillery force would foresee many changes in the practice of our future military actions and give greater and different possibilities to securing the operational capabilities of our army," the KCNA quoted Kim as saying.
Prior to the launch, the drill also inspected the operational reliability of the Haekbangashoe system, or the nuclear trigger system in English, a comprehensive nuclear weapons management system that links a launch order to the actual execution process, developed in 2023.
The KCNA accused the US and its allied countries of staging a series of nuclear operation drills on and around the Korean Peninsula and treating a nuclear war against North Korea "a fait accompli," calling it a "reckless" act that requires the military to maintain "a rapid reaction capability and a thoroughgoing war posture."
The KCNA also quoted a defense ministry spokesman as describing the drill as a measure to demonstrate "the rapid counteraction posture and capability of the armed forces" in the event of a "change of the military situation in the sensitive region."
During Kim's "field guidance" Thursday, he was accompanied by Jang Chang-ha, general director of the Missile Administration, and Kim Yong-hwan, president of the Academy of Defence Sciences, as well as several high-ranking party officials. (Yonhap)
