Finance
On Monday, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) into the East Sea, a day after South Korea and the United States conducted joint air drills involving B-1B bombers.
According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) detected the launch from the Sukchon area in South Pyongan Province between 7 a.m. and 7:11 a.m., and the missiles flew 390 km and 340 km, respectively.
Hours after the launch, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the Korean People’s Army artillery unit fired two shots from the 600-mm multiple rocket launcher during firing drills, which flew 395 km and 337 km, respectively.
The weapon system is a “tactical nuclear attack” that “boasts of great might powerful enough to assign only one multiple rocket launcher with four shells to destroy an enemy operational airfield,” according to the KCNA.
Kim Jong-un, the country’s leader, called the 600-mm rocket launcher a “offensive weapon” capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads capable of putting all of South Korea within range during a ceremony to “present” it at a key party meeting in late December.
Given their flight distance, the rockets launched Monday could reach a South Korean air base in Cheongju known to house the South’s F-35A stealth fighters.
Cheongju is 112 kilometers south of Seoul.
The South Korean military “strongly” condemned the North’s latest missile launches as an act of “significant provocation” that jeopardizes peace and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula, but also throughout the international community.
It also called the provocation a “clear” violation of UN Security Council resolutions and urged the North to cease such provocative behavior immediately.
“Our military will ensure a firm response posture based on security cooperation among the South, the US and Japan, and maintain a firm readiness posture based on capabilities to respond overwhelmingly to any North Korean provocations,” the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.
The allies conducted air drills on Sunday, involving US bombers and South Korean F-35A stealth jets, after the North launched what it claimed was a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) the day before.
Source:OCN
