North Korea says ‘will surely annihilate the enemy’ with missiles if needed amid largest US-South Korea drills in years
- State media said the launch of two surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missiles on Tuesday was a drill aimed at readying troops for a ‘fire assault’
- It comes amid 11-day joint drills between South Korean and American forces dubbed ‘Freedom Shield 23’ that Pyongyang views as an invasion rehearsal
The launch was a “demonstration drill” and saw two surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missiles fired from near the west coast in South Hwanghae province, flying some 611km (380 miles) over the country before hitting a target on a small island off the east coast, the KCNA report confirmed.
“Saying that they will surely annihilate the enemy if they fight it, the commander of the unit resolved to thoroughly have the ability to fully carry out its duty of fire assault any time by further intensifying the training of every fire assault company,” KCNA reported.
The firing of the missiles come amid the 11-day joint drills between South Korean and American forces, dubbed “Freedom Shield 23”, their largest joint military drills in years.
Pyongyang condemns the drills as a rehearsal for invasion and proof of hostile policies from Seoul and Washington.
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South Korea’s military “strongly condemned” North Korea, calling the repeated missile launches a grave provocation threatening the region’s peace and security, and the US State Department criticised the launches as violations of multiple United Nations Security Council Resolutions.