North Korean leader Kim Jong-un conducted military exercises for two days “simulating a nuclear counterattack” and including a ballistic missile launch equipped with a “dummy nuclear warhead”, the agency reported on Monday. North Korean state KCNA received in Seoul.
Kim expressed her “satisfaction” after the weekend of exercises. It was Pyongyang’s fourth show of force in a week as Seoul and Washington conduct their largest joint military drills in five years.
North Korea views all such exercises as rehearsals for an invasion of its territory and has repeatedly warned that it will respond to them in an “overwhelming” manner. “The missile was fitted with a warhead simulating a nuclear warhead,” KCNA said.
Second intercontinental ballistic test this year
On Thursday, Pyongyang fired its Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the most powerful in its arsenal, in the presence of leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter, and just before a visit to Japan by the South-Eastern President. Korean Yoon Suk Yeol.
Cold for years due to a historic dispute, the two neighbors have resumed language at the highest level and decided to present a united front against North Korea.
It was Pyongyang’s second ICBM test this year, which KCNA said at the time was a response to “frenzied” military exercises by South Korea and the United States. The firing itself came after the launch Tuesday of two short-range ballistic missiles and, on March 12, two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine.
