SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea said Monday it simulated a nuclear attack on South Korea with a ballistic missile launch over the weekend, its fifth missile demonstration this month, to protest the biggest joint military exercise in years between the US and South Korea.
Northern leader Kim Jong Un has ordered his army to conduct more exercises to extend the war readiness of his nuclear forces within the face of “aggression” from his enemies, state media reported.
South Korean and Japanese militaries detected a short-range missile fired into waters off the North’s east coast on Sunday, reportedly lower than an hour before the U.S.’s long-range B-1B bomber flew for training with South Korean warplanes.
The North describes the US-South Korea exercises as an invasion attempt, although allies say they’re defensive in nature.
![This image provided by the North Korean government shows a ballistic missile in North Pyongan Province, North Korea, March 19, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/AP23078825135250-1.jpg?w=1024)
Some experts say the North is using the exercises as an excuse to advance its weapons programs.
Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency reported that the missile, which flew about 500 miles, had a tip with an imitation nuclear warhead.
He described the test as successful, saying that the device detonated as intended 800 yards above the water at a location that simulated an unspecified “primary enemy goal”, purportedly proving the reliability of nuclear blast control devices and warhead detonators.
The report said the launch was the ultimate leg of a two-day exercise that also included nuclear command and control exercises and training military units to maneuver faster to a nuclear counterattack posture, properly operate nuclear weapons systems, and execute attack plans.
![Kim Jong Un observes the country's test-launched ICBM at Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, March 16, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/NK-Missiles-3-2.jpg?w=1024)
![A U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter transports an M777 howitzer during a joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, South Korea, March 19, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/AP23078276982249-1-1.jpg?w=1024)
The exercise was also a “stronger warning” to america and South Korea, that are “not hiding of their clear try to start a war” against the North, KCNA said.
Images released by state media showed Kim walking through the forest together with his daughter and senior military officials and the missile, which the North described as a tactical nuclear weapons system, shot out of the forest, spewing flames and smoke.
Saying that his enemies have gotten “increasingly clear of their aggressive moves,” Kim outlined unspecified “strategic tasks” to further develop his nuclear forces and improve their readiness for war, KCNA reported.
This indicated that the North might up the ante in its arms demonstrations in the approaching weeks or months.
![U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers (center) fly in formation with South Korean Air Force F-35A fighters over the Korean Peninsula during a joint air exercise in South Korea on March 19, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/AP23078843291819.jpg?w=1024)
Jeon Ha Gyu, a spokesman for South Korea’s Ministry of Defense, said it was clear that North Korea was making “significant progress” in nuclear weapons technology through increased testing activities.
He didn’t provide a particular assessment of the North’s claims of a successful detonation of the warhead.
North Korean images indicated that the most recent launch was a solid-propellant missile, apparently modeled after Russia’s Iskander mobile ballistic system that the North has been testing since 2019.
The missiles are built to travel at low altitudes and be maneuverable in flight, which theoretically increases their possibilities of evading South Korean missile defenses.
![South Korea and Japan's armed forces detected a short-range missile fired into waters off the North's east coast on Sunday.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/AP23078826050218.jpg?w=1024)
While these missiles were mostly launched from wheeled vehicles, North Korea has also tested them or variants from railcars, a submarine, and a platform inside a tank.
Images from a recent test suggested the missile was likely fired from a silo dug into the bottom, highlighting the North’s efforts to diversify launch options and make it harder for adversaries to discover and counter them.
The South Korean military said the launch took place within the mountainous northwest region near Tongchangri, which is where the North has carried out long-range rocket and satellite launches in previous years.
North Korea likely has dozens of nuclear warheads, but there are various assessments of how far the North has gone in miniaturizing and engineering these weapons to match the newer weapons it has been testing lately.
While the North, after six nuclear tests, may have the ability to put easy nuclear warheads on a few of its older systems, corresponding to Scuds or Rodong missiles, it’ll likely require further technological improvements and nuclear testing to construct warheads that may be installed on more advanced tactical systems , based on Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow on the South Korean Policy Institute of Science and Technology.
Sunday’s short-range missile launch was the North’s fifth missile event this month and the third since joint US-South Korean military exercises began on March 13.
The allied exercises, that are expected to last until Thursday, include computer simulations and the biggest spring field exercise since 2018.
North has fired about 20 missiles in nine different launches to date in 2023. These included land-launched short-range missiles, submarine-launched cruise missiles, and two different ICBMs launched from an airfield near Pyongyang in an try to reveal a dual capability to launch nuclear strikes against South Korea and the mainland United States.
The newest ICBM test last Thursday preceded a summit between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who agreed to resume security dialogues and take other steps to enhance their often strained relationship within the face of threats from North Korea.
North Korea is already experiencing a record yr of testing activity, with greater than 70 missiles fired in 2022, as Kim accelerates the event of its weapons geared toward forcing the US to just accept the concept of the North as a nuclear power and negotiating much-needed sanctions to release it from a position of strength.
In response to the most recent ICBM launch attempt, the UN Security Council scheduled an emergency open meeting on Monday morning on the request of the US, UK, Albania, Ecuador, France and Malta.
Security Council resolutions have long banned North Korean ballistic missile activities, but everlasting members of the Council, Russia and China, have thwarted penalties or further sanctions lately.
The UN Security Council held a casual meeting on Friday where america, its allies and human rights experts highlighted what they described because the dire human rights situation in North Korea.
China and Russia condemned the meeting as a politicized move.
The UN mission in North Korea declared a gathering on “our nonexistent “human rights issue” illegal.
It also said the US held Friday’s meeting “while organizing aggressive joint military exercises that pose a serious threat to our national security.”