SEOUL, South Korea (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea test-fired what seemed to be artillery rounds toward the sea on Sunday, according to the South Korean military, only days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for increased defensive capabilities to deal with external threats.
On Sunday morning, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea reported it intercepted four flight patterns suspected to be North Korean artillery. South Korea maintains a strong military preparedness in close collaboration with the US, according to the statement, despite increased monitoring on North Korea.
According to South Korea’s presidential office, during a national security council conference organised to discuss the launches, South Korean authorities voiced concern that North Korea is trying to upgrade weapons systems that pose a significant threat to South Korea and reiterated that they might deal sternly with such North Korean attempts.
The North’s artillery experiments receive less attention from the outside world than its missile launches. However, its forward-deployed long-range artillery batteries pose a severe security danger to South Korea’s densely populated urban zone, which is barely 40-50 kilometres (25-30 miles) from North Korea’s border.
The purported artillery launches have been the latest in a series of weaponry tests by North Korea this year, which Western analysts say are an attempt to compel Pyongyang’s adversaries, Washington and Seoul, to ease international pressure and make other compromises.
North Korea has nearly completed preparations for its first nuclear test in around five years, according to South Korean and US sources. North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States’ mainland in March, breaking a 2018 ban on large missile testing.
Kim emphasised the need to boost his country’s military capacity in an address to the governing party last week, calling the present threat climate “extremely dangerous.”
The United States or South Korea were not mentioned in Kim’s speech, which was broadcast by official media. He did, however, lay forth “militant missions” for his armed services and researchers to pursue, implying that he would continue with his high-profile armaments expansion ambitions.
A fresh nuclear test by North Korea will be the country’s ninth. According to some experts, North Korea would most likely utilise the test to develop warheads for tactical nuclear weapons directed at targets in South Korea.
Image source: Korean Central News Agency
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