North Korea says missile tests aimed to simulate nuclear strikes

North Korea’s latest short-range missile tests aimed to simulate nuclear attacks on the US and South Korea, Pyongyang’s state media said Friday.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw joint strike drills in the east coast involving the 600 millimeter multi-layer rocket system and Hwasong-11 short-range ballistic missiles, the Korean Central News Agency said. The “successful” drills were aimed to familiarize nuclear missile units with the “national nuclear weapons integrated management system,” in light of US and South Korea’s drills in preparation for a potential nuclear war, KCNA added.
The state media report came a day after South Korea said Pyongyang fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast.
The missiles highlight the threat North Korea poses to its neighbors as concerns grow over Pyongyang’s deepening military ties with Russia. Earlier this month, North Korea and Russia confirmed for the first time that Pyongyang dispatched troops to help President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, but both have denied any illicit arms trade.
The Hwasong-11 is a short-range missile variant also known as KN-23 or KN-24, which Ukraine has said Pyongyang supplied to Moscow in its war against Kyiv. North Korea’s state media has also said the missile is being mass-produced for deployment to front-line units.The latest tests underscore North Korea’s ambition to develop its weapons. Kim has previously vowed to bolster the nation’s nuclear capabilities “without limit” to counter the threats posed by the security partnership between the US and its allies in the region.

South Korea condemned the drills and warned the North against further provocations ahead of a June 3 presidential election. Frontrunner Lee Jae-myung of the main opposition Democratic Party on Thursday criticized the launches as a “clear miscalculation,” but called for a restart of inter-Korean dialogue and also talks between Washington and Pyongyang.

North Korea has denounced joint military drills between South Korea and the US as a rehearsal for nuclear war. The allies held the “Iron Mace” tabletop military exercise last month in Seoul, aimed at strengthening US extended deterrence, including how to enable joint planning for South Korea’s conventional support to US strategic operations in a contingency.

Kim has regularly used missile launches and other opportunities to showcase Pyongyang’s growing military might. Visiting a munitions factory this week, Kim said the plant’s production of shells has more than quadrupled compared to usual years and called for further ramping up its output, KCNA reported.

Pyongyang’s latest ballistic missiles test is the first in two months, coming just days after Kim visited several arms factories and pledged to increase weapons production, reinforcing signs that military industrialization is becoming a core part of the country’s economic strategy.