KCNA said Wednesday that North Korea’s latest missile launches were a military rehearsal to train workers to “annihilate the enemy” at any moment.
South Korea’s military said North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast on Tuesday, the latest of numerous weapons tests as the South and the US conduct their largest joint military maneuvers in years.
The “demonstration practice” launched two surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missiles from near the west coast in South Hwanghae province, traveling 611 kilometers (380 miles) across the nation before hitting a target on a tiny island off the east coast, according to the KCNA report.
“Saying that they will undoubtedly exterminate the enemy if they battle it, the commander of the unit determined to comprehensively have the capacity to fully carry out its duty of fire assault any moment by further deepening the training of every fire assault company,” KCNA said.
The missiles were launched during the 11-day “Freedom Shield 23” joint military maneuvers between South Korean and US soldiers, their largest in years.
Pyongyang criticizes the drills as a rehearsal for invasion and confirmation of hostile actions from Seoul and Washington.
The allies claim the drills are required to discourage North Korea, which has launched a record number of missiles over the last year and has been detected conducting repairs at its nuclear weapons test facility, raising worries of a new nuclear detonation for the first time since 2017.
A U.S. State Department official called North Korea’s missile launches a breach of numerous UN Security Council Resolutions, and South Korea’s military “strongly criticized” them.
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