North Korea has continued its war against the fish in the East Sea:
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) toward the East Sea on Monday, hours before a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier staged joint drills in waters south of Jeju Island, according to South Korea’s military.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from the Chunghwa County area in North Hwanghae Province between 7:47 a.m. and 8 a.m. The missiles flew some 370 kilometers before splashing into the sea, it added.
Pyongyang’s latest provocation came as South Korea and the United States kicked off the Ssangyong (double dragon) amphibious landing exercise last week. It is scheduled to end next Monday.
The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group also trained together with the South’s major warships in waters south of the peninsula Monday, according to the Navy here.
And some interesting discussion about the possible / alleged “missile silo”. If it is one – it’s pretty rudimentary and was built super fast. It’s not impossible but seems unlikely. Although #DPRK rarely does things to the standards of other countries. https://t.co/3oZkWrxKQb
Sounds like more North Korean propaganda to try and strike fear in South Korea and impress their own domestic audience with something that probably doesn’t even work:
The test warhead of an “underwater nuclear attack drone” of North Korea detonates underwater after it was launched off the coast of Riwon County of South Hamgyong Province on March 21, 2023, in this photo released on March 24 by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
North Korea has tested a new nuclear-capable underwater attack drone, state media reported on Friday, as leader Kim Jong Un warned joint military drills by South Korea and the U.S. should stop.
During the test, the new North Korean drone cruised underwater at a depth of 80 to 150 metres (260-500 feet) for over 59 hours and detonated a non-nuclear payload in waters off its east coast on Thursday, North Korean state news agency KCNA said.
Here is the latest missile test from North Korea during the ongoing Freedom Shield exercise that ends this week:
North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles toward the East Sea on Wednesday, the South Korean military said.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from the Hamhung area on the North’s east coast from 10:15 a.m. It did not immediately provide other details.
Observers raised the possibility that the launch might have involved a long-range strategic cruise missile known as the North Korean version of the U.S.’ Tomahawk missile.
The launch came as South Korea and the United States are conducting the combined Freedom Shield (FS) command post exercise as well as the concurrent field training exercise, called the Warrior Shield. The 11-day FS is set to end Thursday.
The fact that North Korea has been launching missiles to protest the Freedom Shield exercise is about the most unsurprising news of the past week:
North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday in yet another provocation amid South Korea’s combined military exercise with the United States.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that it detected the missile launched from Dongchang-ri, North Korea’s key long-range rocket shooting site in its northwestern coast, at 11:05 a.m. It flew about 800 kilometers across land before falling into the waters off its east coast.
It was North Korea’s fourth weapons test apparently targeting the Freedom Shield exercise that began last Monday. On Thursday, only several hours before President Yoon Suk Yeol’s summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, the North fired a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile into the East Sea between the two countries ― after launching two short-range ballistic missiles on March 14 and two cruise missiles from a submarine on March 12.
How nice of North Korea to launch some fireworks before the start of the Freedom Shield exercise next month:
North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile toward the Yellow Sea on Thursday, Seoul’s military said, in the latest show of force ahead of a major South Korea-U.S. military exercise set to begin next week.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from the North’s western port city of Nampo at 6:20 p.m. It did not elaborate further.
Kim Yo-jong is out making wild threats as usual before next weeks US-ROK Freedom Shield exercise:
Kim Yo-jong
Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned Tuesday the North is ready to take “overwhelming” actions against military activities by the United States and South Korea, as its rivals are staging joint military drills involving American strategic assets.
Kim also warned the North will regard any U.S. attempt to intercept a missile that it will fire as a “clear declaration of war” against the reclusive nation, according to the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
“As already clarified, we keep our eye on the restless military moves by the U.S. forces and the south Korean puppet military and are always on standby to take appropriate, quick and overwhelming action at any time according to our judgment,” Kim said in an English-language statement carried by the state-run media.
You can read more at the link, but all the U.S. is only going to intercept a missile if it fired at areas that threaten U.S. or allied territory. The U.S. Aegis ships and THAAD batteries provide terminal missile defense which means it does intercepts while the threat missile is descending from the atmosphere. This means the U.S. would need to know the area where the missile is descending to shoot it down. That is why these assets are located in areas that military commanders want protected such as the THAAD batteries in South Korea and Guam.
The U.S. also has the GMD system with interceptors located in Alaska and California to protect the U.S. homeland. If North Korea fires a missile any where near the U.S. homeland of course it will be intercepted.
I think this will be North Korea’s excuse to launch ICBM technology over neighboring countries by claiming they are satellite launches:
North Korea’s development of a high-thrust engine capable of carrying a rocket has provided a “sure guarantee” for the country to launch various satellites into orbit, according to state media Monday.
Pak Kyong-su, vice director of the National Aerospace Development Administration, made the remarks amid speculation the North is likely to put a military spy satellite into orbit by April.
In an interview by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Sunday on the occasion of the 14th anniversary of the North’s accession to the international outer space treaty, Pak said the North has made “steady” progress in the work to develop “multi-functional and high-performance” satellites.
