North Korea allegedly fires artillery pieces into the sea

• North Korea tested suspected artillery pieces into the sea, according to the South Korean military.
• It fires days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for increased defensive capabilities to deal with external threats.
• The Joint Chiefs of Staff stated it intercepted several flight paths suspected to be North Korean artillery.

North Korea tested suspected artillery pieces into the sea, according to the South Korean military on Sunday, only days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for increased defensive capabilities to deal with external threats.

On Sunday morning, the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated it intercepted several flight paths suspected to be North Korean artillery. It added that, despite increased surveillance on North Korea, South Korea maintains a strong military readiness in close coordination with the US.

According to South Korea’s presidential office, during a national security council meeting convened to discuss the suspected launches, South Korean officials expressed concern that North Korea is upgrading weapons systems that pose a direct threat to South Korea and reaffirmed that they would deal sternly with such North Korean efforts.

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The North’s artillery experiments receive less attention from the outside world than its missile launches. However, its forward-deployed long-range artillery batteries pose a severe security danger to South Korea’s densely populated urban zone, which is only 40-50 kilometers (25-30 miles) from North Korea’s border.

North Korea has nearly completed preparations for its first nuclear test in about five years, according to South Korean and US sources. North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States’ mainland in March, breaking a 2018 ban on large missile testing.

Kim emphasized the need to boost his country’s military capability in an address to the governing party last week, calling the current threat environment “extremely dangerous.”

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The United States or South Korea were not mentioned in Kim’s speech, which was broadcast by official media. He did, however, lay forth “militant missions” for his armed forces and scientists to pursue, implying that he would continue with his high-profile arms expansion ambitions.

A new nuclear test by North Korea would be the country’s ninth. According to some experts, North Korea will most likely utilize the test to develop warheads for tactical nuclear weapons directed at targets in South Korea.

The purported artillery launches were the latest in a series of weapons tests by North Korea this year, which Western experts say are an attempt to compel Pyongyang’s adversaries, Washington and Seoul, to ease international sanctions and make other concessions.

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