North Korea yesterday fired another round of cruise missiles, Seoul’s military said, extending a flurry of tests of weapons that analysts warned could be destined for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Pyongyang this month has conducted tests of what it called an “underwater nuclear weapon system,” a solid-fueled hypersonic ballistic missile and a new generation of strategic cruise missiles.
Relations between the two Koreas have sharply deteriorated, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declaring Seoul his principal enemy as he pulls closer to Moscow, including, Washington says, sending weapons for use in Ukraine.
Photo: AFP
South Korea’s military said it had detected the launch of several cruise missiles early yesterday, adding that it was “conducting a detailed analysis” while strengthening surveillance in cooperation with ally the US.
Unlike their ballistic counterparts, the testing of cruise missiles is not banned under UN sanctions on Pyongyang.
Cruise missiles tend to be jet-propelled and fly at a lower altitude than more sophisticated ballistic missiles, making them harder to detect and intercept.
Despite rafts of UN sanctions, Seoul and Washington say Kim has been shipping weapons to Russia, possibly in exchange for Moscow’s technical assistance for Pyongyang’s budding spy satellite program.
Kim made a rare overseas trip to Russia in September last year to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at a cosmodrome, with Putin now set to pay a visit to Pyongyang in return. North Korea successfully put its first spy satellite into orbit in November last year.
“It is believed that North Korea has commenced mass production of cruise missiles ordered by Russia,” said Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies.
“It looks like they are conducting ... experiments of these [ordered] missiles at sea, causing disruption to South Korea and the United States,” Anh said, adding that all guided missiles needed to undergo a minimum of five tests before being deployed on the battlefield.
Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said one cannot “rule out the possibility” that North Korea is conducting test-fires of cruise missiles intended for export to Russia.
“During the Ukraine war, cruise missiles have played a significant role for Russia in targeting strategic facilities in Ukraine,” Hong said.
Chun In-bum, a retired South Korean army general, added that “North Korean weapons are for sale as long as the price is right.”
Seoul’s spy agency last month issued a statement forecasting that Pyongyang would carry out military and cyber provocations this year, targeting the election campaigns in the US and South Korea.
Kim late last year instructed his aides to “come up with measures to cause a big stir in South Korea early next year,” the statement by Seoul’s spy agency said.
Kim has declared South Korea his nation’s “principal enemy,” jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach, and threatened war over “even 0.001mm” of territorial infringement.
He also said Pyongyang would not recognize the two nations’ de facto maritime border, the Northern Limit Line, and called for constitutional changes allowing North Korea to “occupy” Seoul in war, the Korean Central News Agency reported.
“North Korea seems to indirectly support former US president Donald Trump by emphasizing the shortcomings of South Korea and [US President Joe Biden’s] policy toward North Korea by increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” University of North Korean Studies president Yang Moo-jin said.
Thae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat who defected to South Korea, this month said that Kim was not likely looking to trigger a war, given that Pyongyang was selling a “significant number” of weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
“If Kim Jong-un intends to initiate a war this year, does it make sense for him to send a substantial quantity of his weapons to Russia in containers?” Thae said in an interview with the Chosun Daily, adding that North Korea was aiming to deter Seoul and Washington by “creating the impression of a significant impending action.”
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