North Korea yesterday said that its latest missile launches simulated “scorched earth” nuclear strikes on South Korea and that it has also been rehearsing an occupation of its rival’s territory in the event of conflict.
Pyongyang has previously tested nuclear-capable missiles and described how it would use them in potential wars with South Korea and the US. However, the North’s disclosure of detailed war plans reaffirmed its aggressive nuclear doctrine to intimidate its opponents, as it escalates its protest of the ongoing South Korean-US military exercises that it views as a major security threat, observers said.
North Korea’s military fired two tactical ballistic missiles from the capital on Wednesday night to practice “scorched earth strikes” at major command centers and operational airfields in South Korea, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The North’s military said the missiles carried out their simulated strikes through air bursts, suggesting it confirmed the explosions of dummy warheads at a set altitude.
Pyongyang said its missile tests were in response to the US’ flyover of long-range B-1B bombers for a joint aerial training with South Korea earlier on Wednesday.
The aerial drill “is a serious threat to [North Korea] as it was just pursuant to the scenario for a pre-emptive nuclear strike at” North Korea, the Korean People’s Army (KPA) general staff said. “The KPA will never overlook the rash acts of the US forces and the [South Korean] military gangsters.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
The missile launches on Wednesday were the latest in the North’s barrage of weapons tests since last year.
The two short-range missiles traveled 360 to 400km at a maximum altitude of 50km before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, South Korean and Japanese assessments showed.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launches “a grave provocation” that threatens international peace and violates UN Security Council resolutions that ban any ballistic launches by North Korea.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said that Washington’s commitment to the defense of South Korea and Japan remains “ironclad.”
KCNA said in a separate report that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday visited an army post where his military has been holding command post drills in response to the South Korean-US military training.
It said the drills are aimed at practicing procedures for “occupying the whole territory of the southern half” of the Korean Peninsula in the event of war.
Kim underscored the need to “deal a heavy blow at the enemy’s war potential and war command center and blinding their means of command communication at the initial stage of operation.”
Kim also detailed tasks to acquire an ability to launch “simultaneous super-intense strikes” at key enemy military targets and other sites whose destruction can cause social and economic chaos, KCNA said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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