North Korea fired “several unidentified cruise missiles” off its east coast on Sunday (Jan 28), said South Korea’s military amid a rise in tensions between the two countries. The latest launch comes days after North Korea claimed to have tested its new strategic cruise missile.
North Korea’s latest missile launch
“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.
WATCH | North Korea fires cruise missiles near Sinpo area
Seoul did not specify the number of missiles that were launched, citing an ongoing analysis, but said it had strengthened monitoring and vigilance and was working with the United States to analyse the latest launch.
“While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance, our military has been closely coordinating with the United States to monitor additional signs of North Korea’s provocations,” said JCS, in a statement, as quoted by South Korean news agency Yonhap.
North Korea denounces US-South Korea drills
Earlier on Sunday, the North Korean state media KCNA 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.
‘Pulhwasal-3-31’
North Korea’s reported launch on Sunday comes days after it claimed to have tested its new strategic cruise missile dubbed ‘Pulhwasal-3-31’ which it said was currently under development, reported KCNA.
On Thursday (Jan 25), the state media report had also said that the test-firing had no impact on the security of neighbouring countries, and it had “nothing” to do with the regional situation.
The KCNA report also confirmed the South Korean military’s statement which said North Korea fired several cruise missiles towards the Yellow Sea, a day prior.
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.
Pyongyang has ramped up confrontation with Seoul and its ally Washington in the last few months. However, the US and South Korean officials said that they have spotted no signs that North Korea intends to take imminent military action.
(With inputs from agencies)
