North Korean state media has published photos showing the country's armed forces firing multiple short-range missiles Pyongyang says are capable of delivering nuclear warheads.
The drill, which involved "super-sized" multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), was carried Monday out to test the platform's capabilities through its "sudden maneuverability and salvos" of its 600-millimeter rockets, the state-run Rodong Sinmun wrote.
The exercise also marked the fifth occasion Kim Jong Un was reported attending a military exercise in the last two weeks. Other recent North Korean exercises coincided with operation Freedom Shield, an annual drill led by South Korea and the U.S. that concluded March 14.
According to the images released Monday, North Korean forces fired at least one volley of six missiles from wheeled transporter erector launchers seen at the site. Fire and smoke can be seen rising from islands apparently targeted in the exercise.
Kim "called for fully preparing long-range artillerymen as the main combatants and main forces of war to annihilate the enemy without hesitation according to their duty," according to Rodong Sinmun.
Pyongyang has previously said it can fit the rockets with nuclear warheads, per North Korea-focused analysis website NK News.
The North Korean embassy in Beijing and the South Korean embassy in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to written requests for comment.
There is a very limited window for intercepting such rockets, Ankit Panda, a nuclear policy analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told NK News Tuesday.
They could reach the South Korean capital of Seoul within "a couple minutes" of being launched from North Korea.
Monday's drill unfolded amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, which are at their highest level in decades.
Recent actions by Kim's government indicate a change of direction following a short-lived thaw in relations in the late 2010s.
Advances in North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities, along with live fire exercises near South Korean territory, have heightened concerns in the South.
In November, North Korea defied United Nations Security Council resolutions by launching its first spy satellite, claiming it was essential for defense purposes and promising to launch three more within the year.
Seoul retaliated by suspending parts of a North-South military accord aimed at lowering the risk of conflict and reinstated aerial surveillance across the Military Demarcation Line that divides the two nations. North Korea then withdrew from the 2018 agreement completely.
In January, the North amended its constitution to declare South Korea the "principal enemy" and stepped up its purge of symbols of inter-Korean cooperation.
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Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian ... Read more
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