North Korea launched numerous cruise missiles toward the sea on Wednesday, according to the South Korean military, three days after conducting what it termed a mock nuclear strike on the South.
The launches represent the North’s fourth round of nuclear tests since the United States and South Korea began large-scale military exercises that the North perceives as an invasion rehearsal last week.
On Thursday, the 11-day U.S.-South Korean military exercises will conclude. The United States is allegedly planning to send an aircraft carrier to South Korea in the coming days for a new round of military maneuvers. North Korea is anticipated to resume its testing operations.
South Korea claims North Korea launched multiple cruise missiles at its eastern seas.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea reported detecting “several” launches of cruise missiles from the North’s northeastern coastal town of Hamhung. It was reported that the missiles went towards North Korea’s eastern seas, and that South Korean and U.S. intelligence officials were studying more facts.
After a record-setting year of testing, North Korea has continued its provocative weapons demonstrations in 2023, firing over 20 missiles in 10 consecutive occasions. Short-range nuclear-armed ballistic missiles capable of targeting South Korea and intercontinental ballistic missiles aimed to strike the U.S. mainland were among the weapons tested.
The launches on Wednesday were the North’s first cruise missile tests since March 21, when it claimed to have launched two cruise missiles from a submarine. North Korea launched four so-called long-range cruise missiles with potential ranges of 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) toward distant targets last month.
On Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test-firing of a short-range ballistic missile that was presumably fired from an underground silo. State-run media in North Korea described the missile as a mock nuclear assault against unidentified South Korean targets.
