North Korea provocatively launches a surprise cruise missile, possibly a nuclear-loaded ‘strategic cruise missile’.
North Korea launched several cruise missiles into the western sea early on the 24th. These missiles are believed to be strategic cruise missiles capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads. It is interpreted as a strategy to maximize the security threat ahead of the parliamentary general elections in April. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said, “We detected several cruise missiles launched into the western sea by North Korea around 7 a.m. today,” and “The details and specifications are being analyzed by Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies.” This missile provocation by North Korea comes ten days after the launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). Cruise missiles are typically test-fired in a circular or figure-eight trajectory. Unlike ballistic missiles, they fly at low altitudes, making them relatively difficult to detect.
There is speculation within and outside the military that this cruise missile could be a Hwasong-1 or Hwasong-2. North Korea claims that it can mount the tactical nuclear warhead ‘Volcano-31’ on the strategic cruise missiles Hwasong-1 and 2. Shin Jong-woo, Secretary General of the Korea Defense and Security Forum, analyzed, “If what North Korea launched this time is a cruise missile, it is likely to be a Hwasong-1 or 2.”
North Korea confirmed that it was a Hwasong-1 or 2 by announcing through official media the day after launching a cruise missile on September 2 last year, “We conducted a virtual launch training of a tactical nuclear attack by launching a strategic cruise missile.”
North Korea has been resorting to military provocations since the beginning of the year. From the 5th to the 7th of this month, it carried out artillery firings in the western border region for three consecutive days. On the 14th, it test-fired a hypersonic IRBM with a solid fuel propulsion system. On the 19th, it claimed to have conducted a crucial test of the nuclear unmanned underwater attack vehicle ‘Sea Wave.’
Particularly, Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, has been making extremely hard-line remarks since the beginning of the year, such as “South Korea is the main enemy,” “Annihilation of South Korea,” and “We have no intention of avoiding war.” Since then, North Korea has shown different movements from before, such as deciding to include the ‘unification abolition’ policy in the North Korean constitution and abolishing various departments and tasks related to unification, heightening tensions.
With Chairman Kim himself mentioning the threat of war, there are growing concerns about additional provocations targeting the general elections.
Secretary General Shin analyzed, “After North Korea declared the abolition of the inter-Korean military agreement, it resumed artillery firing training in the northwest islands, launched a hypersonic IRBM, and so on. These series of processes seem to be moving within a set frame,” and “It seems to intend to cause security instability in a ‘salami’ tactic until the general election in April.” The salami tactic, derived from the Italian sausage salami that is eaten thinly sliced, refers to a method of solving one task by breaking it down and dealing with it step by step.
Meanwhile, Shin Won-sik, Minister of National Defense, visited the 17th Fighter Wing in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, where the F-35A fighter jet is deployed, to check the readiness posture. Minister Shin emphasized, “If the Kim Jong-un regime makes the worst choice of starting a war, you should be the vanguard that declares the end of the regime by removing the enemy leadership in the shortest possible time as ‘the invisible power that protects the Republic of Korea.'”
By. Jae Hyung Cho
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