SEOUL, March 15 (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday oversaw the test-launch of 12 600mm-calibre multiple rocket launchers, state media KCNA said, after the United States and South Korea this week launched annual major drills in South Korea.
He said the drill would expose “the enemies within the 420-km striking range, to uneasiness” and “give them a deep understanding of the destructive power of tactical nuclear weapons.
Images from state news agency KCNA showed Kim and his daughter and potential successor known as Kim Ju Ae were watching the weapons tests.
“The launched rockets battered the island target in the East Sea of Korea about 364.4 km away with the accuracy of 100 percent,” KCNA said.
South Korea’s military said on Saturday that North Korea fired more than 10 ballistic missiles towards the sea off the country’s east coast. The missiles were launched from an area near the capital Pyongyang around 1:20 p.m. local time and flew about 350 kilometers, Seoul said.
Last week, North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said U.S.-South Korea military drills were a “provocative and aggressive war rehearsal” that would harm regional stability. South Korea and Washington say the drills are purely defensive, and aimed at testing readiness against military threats from North Korea.
On Sunday, North Korea said it would frequently conduct such regular drills for checking the DPRK’s war deterrence.
North Korea has test-launched a wide range of ballistic and cruise missiles for more than two decades in a push to develop the means to deliver nuclear weapons, which it is believed to have successfully built.
As a result, Pyongyang has been under multiple U.N. Security Council sanctions since 2006 but it remains defiant, despite severe obstacles they created to its trade, economy and defence.
On Thursday, South Korea’s Prime Minister Kim Min-seok met U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington to discuss ways to reopen dialogue with the North. Trump is eager for any opportunity to sit down with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, South Korea’s Kim told reporters.
(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Chizu Nomiyama )
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