North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a naval unit to oversee the launch of “strategic cruise missiles,” state-run media reported Monday, as the U.S. and South Korea kicked off some of the largest joint military exercises in years.
Kim inspected a flotilla stationed to the Sea of Japan, and watched as the crew of what is believed to be one of the navy’s most advanced warships staged a drill launching the missiles, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported without saying when the visit took place.
The report did not say what types of missiles were fired, but images released with the report showed what appeared to be a Hwasal-2 cruise missile, referring to them as “strategic” weapons. Pyongyang often uses the term to suggest that the missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
The North last tested the Hwasal-2 in March and February, with the missiles traveling 1,500 and 2,000 kilometers before hitting preset targets — a distance that would put Japan easily within striking distance.
KCNA said the latest launches, which “rapidly hit (a) target without even an error,” were intended to confirm the ship’s combat functions as well as prepare the crew for carrying out an “attack mission in actual war.”
Kim urged the navy to “steadily increase the capability for actual war so that they can actively carry out their combat missions in the unfavorable circumstances,” the report said, with the North Korean leader adding that “training precisely means war preparations.”
But South Korea's military said that many parts of the North's announcement were "exaggerated and different from facts," the Yonhap news agency reported, adding that Seoul and the U.S. military had detected signs of the launch earlier and were monitoring them in real time.
Monday’s report comes on the heels of a historic meeting Friday at the rustic Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, where the leaders of Japan, South Korea and the United States inaugurated “a new era” in trilateral cooperation.
At that summit, the three countries announced new annual trilateral military exercises, while confirming that they would have in place a mechanism for ”real-time sharing of missile warning data” by the year’s end.
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting Monday, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said that the trilateral would only become stronger in the face of North Korean weapons tests.
"The larger North Korea's threats or provocations become, the more solid the structure of trilateral security cooperation among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will become," Yonhap quoted Yoon as saying.
Monday's launch was seen as a response to the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises held by the U.S. and South Korea, which are aimed at bolstering the allies’ efforts to deter the evolving North Korean nuclear and missile threat.
The drills, which include a computer simulation-based command post exercise as well as field training and the Ulchi civil defense drills, are set to run through Aug. 31.
Roughly 30 allied field training events are scheduled to be held during the exercise period, compared with 25 during this year's springtime Freedom Shield exercise and 13 in last year's Ulchi Freedom drills, the Yonhap news agency quoted a South Korean military official as saying.
The exercises will involve South Korean government officials, as well as U.S. and South Korean military personnel from all services, according to U.S. Forces Korea.
“The training will increase combat readiness, as well as strengthen the security and stability on the Korean Peninsula and across Northeast Asia,” USFK said in a statement.
North Korea has reacted angrily to the exercises in the past, calling them a rehearsal for invasion.
South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers last week during a closed-door briefing that the North appeared to be readying for its own response to the joint exercises. This could include the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile as well as weapons designed to deliver nuclear bombs to South Korea and Japan.
During a recent visit to key munitions sites, Kim called for an increase in missile production to help secure "overwhelming military power" and be ready for war.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said that while the North's naval cruise missile may appear technologically behind, it "is still a real threat."
"The latest test shows Pyongyang’s intention of attacking South Korea from many angles if it believes the Kim regime is at risk," he said, noting that deepening U.S.-Japan-South Korea trilateral cooperation "can encourage diplomacy with Pyongyang by pressuring China to pressure North Korea to return to talks."
"Until that happens, the Kim regime will continue amping up its nuclear threats and launching missiles."
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