A day after South Korea claimed its notorious neighbour fired “several unidentified cruise missiles” off its east coast on Sunday (Jan 28), North Korea’s state-run news agency KCNA confirmed its leader Kim Jong Un indeed oversaw the launch of Pulhwasal-3-31 missiles from a submarine.
The two Pulhwasal-3-31 missiles remained in the air for 7,421 seconds and 7,445 seconds, added KNCA but refused to divulge how far they flew or whether they had been launched from above or below the water.
North Korea said Sunday’s test from the submarine “had no impact on the security of a neighbouring country and has nothing to do with the regional situation”. The KCNA report mentioned Kim “expressed great satisfaction” with the launch.
Sunday’s launches were North Korea’s third-known launch event of 2024, following a previous round of cruise missile tests on January 24 and January 14, which were the country’s first solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
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What did S Korea claim?
On Sunday (Jan 28), the South Korean military said its neighbour had fired an unidentified cruise missile around the Sinpo area, days after it staged live-fire exercises near the tense maritime border.
“Our military detected several unidentified cruise missiles fired near waters around North Korea’s Sinpo area at 8:00 am today,” said the Joint Chiefs of Staff in a statement, as quoted by AFP.
North Korea denounces US-South Korea drills
Earlier on Sunday, Pyongyang denounced a series of military drills conducted by the US and South Korean troops in recent weeks and warned of “merciless” consequences.
“The reality that nuclear war exercises against our republic have been going on like crazy since the beginning of the New Year demands that we be fully prepared for a deadly war,” the dispatch said, as per Reuters.
The launch also comes after Kim branded South Korea his principal enemy and warned he would not hesitate to annihilate Seoul, as he toured major weapons factories earlier this month.
“The historic time has come at last when we should define as a state most hostile toward the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea the entity called the Republic of Korea (South Korea),” said Kim.
(With inputs from agencies)
