North Korea claims to launched cruise missiles and increased its threat to the US

• Kim Yo Jong warned Pyongyang would transform the Pacific into a “firing range” if the US continued drills.
• The purpose of the Freedom Shield exercises is to strengthen South Korean and US defenses against North Korean missile and nuclear threats.
• Such exercises have been denounced by North Korea as the start of an attack and nuclear conflict.

As South Korea and the US begin extensive military exercises, which have inflamed Pyongyang’s resentment, North Korea claimed it had launched two cruise missiles from a submarine and renewed its warning to “mercilessly punish” the US.

The government of Kim Jong Un claimed to have launched two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine off the east coast of the peninsula on Sunday. The missiles traveled 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) in figure-8 formation before hitting a target. Prior to the joint exercises, the so-called underwater launching exercise confirmed a North Korean “nuclear war deterrence means,” according to the country’s official Korean Central News Agency.

Although North Korea is not prohibited from testing cruise missiles by United Nations resolutions, the launch of the rockets from a submarine would represent a significant advancement in the country’s capacity to potentially deliver a nuclear weapon that could strike US bases in South Korea and Japan.

The launch was verified by South Korea’s Joint Chief of Staff, which announced on Monday that it had intercepted an “unidentified missile test” fired by a North Korean submarine. The US and South Korean intelligence agencies are carefully analyzing the exact specifications, according to the JCS statement.

The most recent launches are a continuation of North Korea’s recent barrage of missile launches, which also includes an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead capable of reaching the US territory. Additionally, it prepares the ground for a new escalation of tensions as the Freedom Shield drills between the US and South Korea take place from Monday through March 23.

Aiming to strengthen their defenses against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, the US-South Korean exercises are some of the biggest the two nations have conducted in recent years. North Korea has promised an unprecedented reaction, having long criticized such drills as the start of an invasion and nuclear conflict.

In a statement posted on KCNA on Monday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry condemned the exercises and attacked the US for preparing to criticize Pyongyang for its record on human rights.

The people of North Korea are prepared to “mercilessly punish the U.S. imperialists completely denying the sovereignty of our state and its socialist system and thus make them pay dearly without fail,” according to the statement.

Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of the leader, warned Pyongyang would transform the Pacific into a “firing range” if the US continued drills. The Kim regime has threatened unprecedented action in response to the drills.

Additionally, she gave a hint that the government might begin evaluating how well its warhead designs can survive the heat of reentering the atmosphere. Although North Korea has shown that its rockets are capable of reaching the US mainland, it is unclear whether the warheads would survive the flight.

The purpose of the Freedom Shield exercises is to strengthen South Korean and US defenses against North Korean missile and nuclear threats. Such exercises have been denounced by North Korea as the start of an attack and nuclear conflict.

Joint military exercises between South Korea and the US were resumed under President Yoon Suk Yeol, who assumed office in May of last year after Donald Trump had scaled them back or stopped them.

The former US president hoped that the action would help his nuclear talks with Kim Jong Un. However, nothing tangible came out of those negotiations to curtail Pyongyang’s nuclear program, which only grew more extensive as denuclearization negotiations stalled.

Yoon is also seeking to increase military cooperation between South Korea and Japan, a move that would be firmly opposed by North Korea, which counts Tokyo as one of its most dangerous foes.

North Korea may test-launch its new solid-fuel ICBMs as early as this month, according to intelligence provided last week to lawmakers in parliament by South Korea’s spy agency.

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