The South Korean military said on Sunday that North Korea was testing suspicious artillery pieces at sea, days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for greater defense capability to deal with foreign threats.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement on Sunday morning that it had detected several flight paths believed to be of North Korean artillery.
He said South Korea maintains strong military readiness in close coordination with the United States amid enhanced North Korean surveillance.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is attending a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party, which was held from June 8 to 10, 2022 in Pyongyang, North Korea. Freelance journalists did not have access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. (AP)
During a meeting of the National Security Council convened to discuss the alleged releases, South Korean officials expressed concern that North Korea is improving weapons systems that pose a direct threat to South Korea and reaffirmed that they would rigorously address these North Korean efforts, according to the South Korean presidency. office.
Northern artillery tests attract less external attention than missile launches.
But its long-range artillery cannons deployed forward are a serious threat to the security of the populous metropolitan region of South Korea, which is only 40-50 kilometers from the North Korean border.
This is an archival photo from 2017 when the North Korean test launched a missile. (AP)
The alleged artillery fire was the latest in a series of gun tests by North Korea this year in what foreign experts call an attempt to pressure rivals Washington and Seoul to ease international sanctions against Pyongyang and make other concessions.
South Korean and U.S. officials recently said North Korea had almost completed preparations for its first nuclear test in about five years.
In March, North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the continental United States in breach of a 2018 moratorium on large-scale missile testing.
In a speech at a ruling party meeting last week, Kim stressed the need to strengthen his country’s military capability, saying the current security environment is “very serious.”
Fire test of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). (Korea News Service via AP)
Kim’s state-run speech did not mention the United States or South Korea.
But he still proposed “militant tasks” for his armed forces and scientists, a suggestion that would go ahead with his plans to build up high-profile weapons.
A possible new nuclear test in North Korea would be the seventh of its kind.
Some experts say North Korea will likely use the test to build warheads to mount tactical nuclear weapons aimed at hitting targets in South Korea.
Kim Jong Un promises to increase the development of nuclear weapons