North Korea fires cruise missiles as US and South Korea start largest military drills in five years

Asia-Pacific, News March 15, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Tensions are rising in the Korean Peninsula as the U.S. and South Korean militaries kick off their ten days long Freedom Shield military drills.

It is the first time such large-scale drills have been held between the United States and the Republic of Korea since 2018 after they were suspended in support of renewed diplomatic efforts to secure North Korea’s denuclearization.

North Korea recorded its disapproval of the large-scale military drills by firing two submarine-launched cruise missiles only hours before the U.S. and South Korean militaries started their exercises.

North Korea’s latest submarine-launched cruise missiles were fired from the 8.24 Yongung Sinpo-class submarine and flew for more than two hours to hit the target about 1500 kilometers away.

The test was reported by North Korea’s state-owned media outlet KCNA, which also released footage of the submarine-launched cruise missiles. KCNA reported that North Korea’s supreme leader oversaw the tests and ordered his military to intensify efforts to repel its rivals in their “war preparation moves.”

The U.S.-South Korean military drills include computer simulations and several field training called Teak Knife, where the two militaries would simulate real-time scenarios of carrying out precision strikes on North Korea’s key facilities.

The U.S. and South Korea’s military drills have infuriated North Korea. Pyongyang views the military exercise as the U.S. and South Korea’s rehearsal for the invasion of North Korea and argues that if the two allies continue to carry out such activities in the region, North Korea would enhance its nuclear program to boost its self-defense capabilities.

^{This photo, carried by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency shows the North’s firing of two “strategic cruise missiles” from a submarine in waters off its east coast the previous day, on March 13, 2023. (Image Credit: KCNA/Yonhap)}

Last week, North Korea warned that any attempt from the U.S. or its allies to intercept and shoot down its missile tests would be considered a declaration of war.

The statement came from Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un. Kim Yo Jong cited a report published by South Korean media that highlights the U.S.’s plan to intercept and shoot down Pyongyang’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) if any other launch takes place toward the Pacific Ocean during the Freedom Shield exercises.

North Korea usually fires its ballistic missiles at a steep angle to avoid misfires in any of its neighboring countries. Several of North Korea’s tested missiles fell into the Sea of Japan, while some flew over Japan and South Korea. The U.S. or its allies have never shot down any of North Korea in the past.

In a separate response to South Korea and the U.S. military drills, North Korea’s foreign ministry called on the United Nations to immediately halt combined military drills as it would raise regional tensions.

*^{U.S. and South Korean flags wave before a joint river-crossing drill between the allied nations in Yeoju, South Korea, on Oct. 19, 2022. (Image Credit: Lee Jin-man/AP)}*

North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong released a statement earlier this month, saying that the drills and rhetoric from the allies are “irresponsibly raising the level of confrontation.” He called on the United Nations to immediately intervene and halt the U.S. and South Korea’s military activities in the region as it poses a threat to North Korea.

Kim said that “the U.N. and the international community will have to strongly urge the U.S. and South Korea to immediately halt their provocative remarks and joint military exercises.” He further stated his disappointment over Unites Nations’ role in solving the rising threat of conflict in her region by stating that it is regrettable that the UN has been consistently silent on the exercises, which have a “clear aggressive nature.”

Last month Kim also issued a statement saying U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been “extremely unfair, unbalanced” against North Korea for its missile tests.