North Korea Launches Cruise Missiles, Kim Jong Un Signals Nuclear Deterrent Focus
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test-firing of strategic cruise missiles from a warship, state media reported Wednesday, amid ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills that Pyongyang views with hostility. The launches, conducted Tuesday, demonstrate the North’s naval strategic offensive posture, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Images released by KCNA showed Kim observing the missile launches from the Choe Hyon, a 5,000-tonne naval destroyer commissioned last year. The missiles reportedly hit target islands off North Korea’s west coast. Kim Jong Un emphasized the need for a “powerful and reliable nuclear war deterrent,” KCNA reported.
This marks the second cruise missile test from the Choe Hyon in the past week. Notably, Kim’s teenage daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju Ae and around 13 years old, accompanied him during Tuesday’s observation, having been present at numerous military events since late 2022. South Korea’s intelligence agency recently assessed that Kim Jong Un may be preparing to designate his daughter as his heir.
The missile tests are widely seen as a response to the “Freedom Shield” exercises, an 11-day joint military drill between the United States and South Korea that began Monday. These drills, largely computer-simulated, are coupled with field training. North Korea routinely responds to such exercises with its own weapons demonstrations.
Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un’s sister and a senior official, issued a statement Tuesday condemning the drills, characterizing them as evidence of U.S. and South Korean hostility toward North Korea. She vowed that North Korea would “convince the enemies of our war deterrence.”
The launches underscore North Korea’s continued development of its weapons programs and its commitment to bolstering its military capabilities despite international sanctions and diplomatic efforts. The U.S. and South Korea maintain that the Freedom Shield exercises are defensive in nature.