North Korea fired at least one ballistic missile on Monday, the South Korean military said, the latest in a string of weapons tests in recent weeks.
• Also read: North Korea has reportedly tested an underwater drone capable of triggering a “radioactive tsunami”.
• Also read: North Korea fires several cruise missiles
“North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic missile into the East Sea,” South Korea’s general staff said, using the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.
Japan’s Defense Ministry also said “a suspected ballistic missile was fired,” with the Coast Guard saying the vehicle has likely already fallen.
The launch comes as Seoul and Washington conduct a joint amphibious landing exercise Thursday, just days after the conclusion of their largest joint military exercise in five years.
Pyongyang sees all of these maneuvers as rehearsals for an invasion. He said Friday that these latest drills, dubbed the “Freedom Shield,” were training for an “occupation” of North Korea.
The North Korean military responded by conducting its own military exercises, including tests of a new “underwater nuclear attack drone” and the launch of its second ICBM of the year.
Analysts had previously estimated that North Korea would likely use these drills as an excuse to conduct new missile launches or even a nuclear test.
North Korea’s state news agency KCNA reported Friday that the “underwater nuclear attack drone” exercise, personally supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, was conducted “to warn the ‘enemy of a real nuclear crisis’.”
The purpose of this weapon is “to stealthily enter operational waters and create a large-scale radioactive tsunami … to destroy enemy naval assault groups and major operational ports,” he said, the KCNA added.
The agency also claimed Pyongyang on Wednesday fired strategic cruise missiles “equipped with a test warhead simulating a nuclear warhead.”
“Irreversible” nuclear power
Analysts doubt North Korea’s claims, but add that it is no longer just stockpiling nuclear warheads, but is trying to perfect and diversify launch capabilities.
After a record year of weapons testing and growing nuclear threats from Pyongyang in 2022, Seoul and Washington have stepped up security cooperation.
North Korea’s military provocations have also pushed Seoul and Tokyo to overcome their historical differences and try to strengthen their defense cooperation.
Last year, North Korea declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power, and leader Kim Jong Un recently called for an “exponential” increase in arms production, including tactical nuclear weapons.
In early March, he also ordered his army to intensify military maneuvers in the face of “real war.”