North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un conducted two-day military drills that “simulated a nuclear counterattack” and included the launch of a ballistic missile with a “dummy nuclear warhead,” the agency given to North Korea’s KCNA in Seoul reported Monday.
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Kim expressed her “satisfaction” after this weekend of practice, according to KCNA. It was Pyongyang’s fourth show of force in a week as Seoul and Washington conduct their largest joint military exercises in five years.
North Korea views all of these drills as rehearsals for an invasion of its territory and has repeatedly warned it would respond “overwhelmingly”.
“The missile was equipped with a warhead that simulated a nuclear warhead,” KCNA said.
On Thursday, Pyongyang fired its Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the most powerful in its arsenal, in the presence of leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter and shortly before a visit by southeastern President Yoon Suk Yeol to Japan.
Cold for years due to a historic dispute, the two neighbors have resumed speaking at the highest level and decided to form a united front against North Korea.
It was Pyongyang’s second ICBM test this year, which KCNA said was in response to “frantic” military exercises by South Korea and the United States at the time.
The shot itself came after the launch of two short-range ballistic missiles on Tuesday and March 12 from two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine.