The Korean People's Army test-fired four "Hwasal-2 strategic cruise missiles" from the northeastern city of Kim Chaek towards the Sea of Japan, according to reports in North Korean media on Friday morning, with the weapons tests announcement coinciding with war games hosted by the Pentagon involving US and South Korean forces.
North Korea has warned the US that its persistent "hostile and provocative practices" in flagrant disregard of repeated protests on the part of Pyongyang may be construed as a 'declaration of war', according to state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The warning was issued by Kwon Jong-gun, the director-general of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's US affairs department. The only way to quell the "vicious cycle" of escalating military tensions on the Korean Peninsula and in the surrounding region, according to the foreign ministry's official, was for Washington to abandon plans to deploying strategic assets in the South and put and end to joint military drills with allies.
Elsewhere in his statement, Kwon Jong-gun lambasted the fact that the US and South Korea "put a sovereign state's legitimate right to self-defence on the agenda of the UNSC" and strongly protested and denounced the move.
The official warned of "strong corresponding action" should the United Nations Security Council discuss North Korea's right to self-defense, and deplored the fact that the Council had become nothing but a tool used to exert Washington's pressure on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
"If the UNSC has a true intention to contribute to peace and security in the Korean peninsula, it will have to bitterly condemn the U.S. and south Korea for their moves of escalating military tension such as frequent deployment of strategic assets and large-scale joint military drills against the DPRK," the minister added.
According to reports in North Korean media on February 24, the Korean People's Army test-fired four "Hwasal-2 strategic cruise missiles" from the northeastern city of Kim Chaek aimed towards the Sea of Japan (called the East Sea in Korea). "The four strategic cruise missiles precisely hit the preset target on the East Sea of Korea after traveling the 2,000 kilometer-long elliptical and eight-shaped flight orbits for 10,208 seconds to 10,224 seconds," the report stated.
On February 20, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that, following Pyongyang's ICBM launch on February 18, and the Monday test-firing of two ballistic missiles, Japan had requested an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC).
Reports of North Korea's most recent missile tests came against the backdrop of war games hosted by the Pentagon and involving US and South Korean forces. The so-called "table-top exercise" focused on hypothetical scenarios of North Korea’s use of nuclear weapons, according to the US Defense Department's statement on February 23.
“Both sides discussed various options to demonstrate the Alliance’s strong response capabilities and resolve to respond appropriately to any DPRK nuclear use,” the Pentagon stated.
US, Japan and South Korea drills held in the Sea of Japan on Wednesday involved three destroyers equipped with the US Aegis combat system.
The debut joint drills since South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol took office have infuriated Pyongyang. Back in September 2022, the DPRK resumed its testing of longer-range ballistic missiles, as well as cruise missiles and what it claimed was a hypersonic weapon. Those missile drills also coincided with war games directed against the DPRK by South Korea, Japan, and the United States.
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