Leader Kim Jong Un guided the launches and expressed his satisfaction with them, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported, without saying when the tests happened.
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The tests were monitored by Kim Jong-Un and the range of the missiles was limited to simulate preemptive attacks on South Korean ports and airfields hosting United States military “hardware”, the North’s official KCNA news agency said.
The South Korean military said Tuesday that the ballistic missiles flight went from 500 kilometers (300 miles) to 600 kilometers (360 miles), far enough to strike all of South Korea, including the southern port city of Busan.
The move follows a recent decision made by the US and South Korea to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to counter North Korean missile threats.
By asserting its ability to strike any part of the South, including the southern county of Seongju where the US -made THAAD battery will be stationed, . experts believe that the North’s latest provocation aims to exacerbate the ongoing contention in South Korea over the decision of deploying the defense system.
North Korea said it test-fired ballistic rockets as part of a simulated pre-emptive attack on ports and airfields in South Korea.
Pyongyang fired what is thought to be two short-range Scuds and the third medium-range Rodong missile on Tuesday (19 July), which, again, escalated tensions in the Korean peninsula.
Bordallo said that the initial request for a THAAD system on Guam was to provide “a sense of security” for island residents after the North Korean regime started its “continued aggression and erratic behavior”. The missiles were launched from the Hwangju region, said South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and flew about 500km (310 miles) to 600km.
Jeon said South Korea “strongly condemns” the launches that he described as an “armed protest” against the THAAD deployment.
North Korea says it will not give up on its nuclear deterrence unless Washington ends its hostile policy toward Pyongyang and dissolves the US-led United Nations command in South Korea.
The U.N. Security Council voted to impose significant punitive measures on the state at the time.
North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January, and held a launch of a spacecraft many suspected was actually a missile test in February.
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South Korea’s Unification Ministry Spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said during a regular briefing Wednesday that Seoul and Washington were closely monitoring the North’s potential provocations, adding the two allies were “thoroughly ready” to counter such acts by Pyongyang.
