The launches come days after Kim Jong-un's forces fired a solid-fueled, intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea, the first this year.
North Korea tested its new “Pulhwasal-3-31” strategic cruise missiles for the first time, aimed at strengthening the capabilities of its weapons systems, reported Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)a day after the South Korean military revealed test firing of multiple cruise missiles into the Yellow Sea.
According KCNAThe launch posed no threat to the security of its neighboring countries and had nothing to do with regional security.
The report further states that “fire testing is a process of constant updating of the weapon system and a regular and mandatory activity” of the General Missile Office and its affiliated defense science institutes.
The multiple launches come days after Kim Jong-un's forces fired a solid-fueled, intermediate-range ballistic missile carrying a hypersonic warhead into the East Sea, the first this year.
north korean media KCNA reported last week that Pyongyang had tested an “underwater nuclear weapons system” in response to joint naval exercises by the United States, South Korea and Japan.
The exercises “severely threatened the security” of the North, so in response, Pyongyang carried out a major test of its Haeil-5-23 underwater nuclear weapons system, which is under development in the East Korean Sea,” KCNA reported.
Early last year, Pyongyang carried out multiple tests of a suspected underwater nuclear attack drone, claiming it could trigger a radioactive tsunami.
Recent months have seen a sharp deterioration in tense ties between the two Koreas, with both sides scrapping key agreements to reduce tension, increasing border security and conducting live-fire drills along the border.
Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared the South his country's main enemy, scrapped agencies dedicated to reunification and extension and threatened war over even 0.001 mm of territorial infringement.
Hours after Pyongyang fired the missiles on Wednesday, Seoul's defense minister said North Korea would face the end of its regime if it ever fought a war.
“If the Kim Jong Un regime makes the worst decision to start a war, it must become the invisible force that protects South Korea and… eliminate the enemy's leadership in the shortest possible time and put an end to its regime” said Shin Won-sik. .
Recent months have seen a sharp deterioration in ties between the two Koreas, with both sides scrapping key agreements to reduce tension, increasing border security and conducting live-fire drills along the border.
North Korean leader Kim also said Pyongyang would not recognize the two countries' de facto maritime border, the Northern Boundary Line, and called for constitutional changes that would allow the North to “occupy” Seoul in a war, the KCNA saying.
