North Korea confirms it tested missiles to ‘wipe out’ enemies

• North Korea confirmed that the simulated use of nuclear weapons were tests to «wipe out» enemies such as the US and South Korea.
• Kim Jong Un said he will conduct more provocative tests.
• North Korea views US-South Korea military drills as invasion rehearsal.

North Korea’s recent missile launches were tests of its tactical nuclear weapons to «hit and wipe out» potential South Korean and US targets, state media reported Monday. Kim Jong Un said more provocative tests will be carried out.

The North Korean remarks, released on the 77th anniversary of the country’s ruling Workers’ Party, were interpreted as an attempt to consolidate public support for Kim in the face of economic difficulties associated with the pandemic, a security threat posed by the strengthened alliance between Washington and Seoul and other complications.

North Korea confirms what was feared about the missiles

“Through seven times of launching drills of the tactical nuclear operation units, the actual war capabilities … of the nuclear combat forces ready to hit and wipe out the set objects at any location and any time were displayed to the full,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

The agency added that the missile tests were in response to recent naval maneuvers between US and South Korean forces, in which the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan participated for the first time in five years, said The Associated Press.

“Simulation of a real war”

Seeing the drills as a military threat, North Korea decided to stage «real war simulation» to check and improve its war deterrence and send a warning to its enemies, KCNA said.

North Korea views the US and South Korean military drills as an invasion rehearsal, though allies have firmly said they are defensive in nature. Since the inauguration of a conservative government in Seoul in May, the US and South Korean militaries have expanded their exercises, which had been scaled back due to the pandemic and now-stalled nuclear diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington.

What is the intention of the various missile attacks?

The launches, all overseen by Kim, included a nuclear-capable ballistic missile launched under a depot in the northeast, other ballistic missiles designed to launch nuclear strikes at South Korean airfields, ports, and command facilities and a new type of surface-to-surface ballistic missile that flew over Japan, KCNA reported.

He said North Korea also flew 150 fighter jets for separate live-fire drills and others in the country’s first such training. Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said North Korea is likely trying to diversify the places it launches from to make it harder for its enemies to identify targets and takeoffs in advance and make preemptive strikes.

North Korea uses tactical nuclear weapons

Cheong Seong-Chang, of the private Sejong Institute in South Korea, said the missile launches marked the first time North Korea has conducted exercises with army units tasked with operating tactical nuclear weapons.

Concerns about North Korea’s nuclear program have grown in recent months, after the country passed a law authorizing the preemptive use of its bombs in some cases and reportedly moved to deploy tactical nuclear weapons along its border with South Korea. It has also conducted a record number of weapons tests, with more than 40 test launches of ballistic and cruise missiles.