North Korea’s Kim hails tests of weapons that threaten South’s capital

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw tests of upgraded artillery and missile systems, state media said Friday, in what an analyst described as a “show of force” against the South Korean capital.

Kim supervised the tests of “major weapons” including a multiple rocket launcher and a warhead for a ballistic missile, state news agency KCNA said.

He pointed to the need for “national defence development” to make sure “no enemy dare to confront” North Korea, which remains technically at war with its southern neighbour.

The diplomatically isolated nation is under multiple sets of sanctions over a nuclear programme its leaders have vowed to pursue as a deterrent to the United States and South Korea.

Pyongyang has made several defence-related declarations in recent days, after South Korean President Lee Jae Myung discussed the situation on the peninsula with US counterpart Donald Trump at a G7 summit in France.

Trump had told him it was time to “pay attention to the North Korea issue”, Lee said after arriving home.

KCNA said Thursday’s tests “analysed and evaluated the combat characteristics of the upgraded 240mm-calibre 24-tubular multiple rocket launcher system, the power of special mission warhead of tactical ballistic missile, and the hit accuracy of shells with an extended firing range of the 155mm self-propelled gun-howitzer”.

It said the rocket launcher system included a new self-steered precise guidance system, and its firing range had increased to 90 kilometres (56 miles).

This is enough to reach parts of the Seoul metropolitan area from positions near the inter-Korean border.

The warhead “is aimed at inflicting fatal damage on major targets including airfields, ports and power facilities of the enemy”, KCNA added.

‘Anxiety and fear’

Kim expressed satisfaction with the results and said the tests demonstrated progress in boosting firepower along the southern border through greater automation, longer range and higher precision.

He reiterated Pyongyang was focused not only on defence but also strengthening a “deadly and destructive offensive posture”.

Analyst Yang Moo-jin, a former president of the University of North Korean Studies, told AFP the details provided by Pyongyang amounted to “a show of force against the South Korean capital region”.

These included the 90km range for multiple rocket launchers, the 65km range for howitzers, and identifying targets such as airfields, ports and power plants.

“Notably, it has revealed its strategic intent by framing the provocation of public anxiety and fear through routine displays of military might as a form of war deterrence,” Yang said of the announcement.

North Korea is subject to multiple United Nations sanctions banning its nuclear weapons development and use of ballistic missile technology, restrictions it has repeatedly flouted.

This month, Kim vowed to beef up North Korea’s defence capabilities, citing military modernisation efforts by South Korea and the United States that he said were pushing the region “to the brink of a nuclear war”.

Days later, he said North Korea would equip its navy with nuclear weapons and build larger warships.