North Korea makes play for spot in China-Russia drills with missile test

Kim Jong-un stood on a cliff top and watched his navy come of age. As the North Korean leader looked on, 10 cruise missiles tore off the deck of the Kang Kon in rapid succession in a display of naval power Pyongyang could once only dream of staging. Analysts say the weapons test on Friday was no accident of timing – coming just days before Russia and China would begin their Joint Sea 2026 maritime exercise off Qingdao – and North Korea wanted to make sure everyone was watching. “North Korea is demonstrating its growing naval capabilities, signalling that it is prepared to participate in joint naval drills with China and Russia,” said Lee Il-woo, a defence analyst at the Korea Defence Network think tank. “In effect, it’s telling Russia and China: ‘Let me join next time’.” North Korea’s navy used to be a mere afterthought: a poorly equipped coastal force that was largely irrelevant to the great-power contests playing out around it. But with the commissioning of two new 5,000-tonne destroyers – the Choe Hyon and the Kang Kon – and a nuclear-powered submarine reportedly under construction, Kim appears to be building a sea-based nuclear strike capability that analysts say is designed to do more than just defend North Korea’s coastline. On Friday, Kim observed the Kang Kong fire cruise missiles, naval artillery, automatic guns and test electronic warfare systems, verifying its ability to “apply various kinds of weapon systems on board … in combat”, state broadcaster KCNA reported. He then ordered the vessel into full naval service within two months. Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said the Kang Kon’s two-month commissioning deadline appeared designed to get the ship into service before September 9, when North Korea marks the 78th anniversary of its founding. A third Choe Hyon-class destroyer, under construction at Nampo and expected to carry additional vertical launch systems for supersonic cruise missiles, appeared timed for completion around October 10, he added – the anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party’s founding. Satellite images from March showed cranes and hoisting equipment in constant motion around the hull, consistent with the fitting-out stage that follows structural completion, according to missile expert Chang Young-keun of the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. “North Korea is maintaining a shipyard and port operations system capable of continuously building large surface combatants,” Chang said. Friday’s test run was not the Kang Kon’s first brush with drama. The destroyer partially capsized during its original launch attempt in May last year, before being successfully put to sea a month later. Moscow and Beijing have reportedly supplied parts, materials and technology for North Korea’s naval modernisation programme, assistance analysts say reflects Pyongyang’s growing utility as tensions mount over Taiwan, the South China Sea and the expanding web of US-led security partnerships across the region. Nuclear triad By spreading its warheads across land, air and sea, North Korea is following the well-worn path of other nuclear states, according to Doo Jin-ho, director of the Eurasia Research Centre at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. “North Korea’s navy, which was once barely capable of operating beyond coastal waters, is rapidly developing into a force capable of participating in joint maritime operations with Russia and China off China’s eastern coast,” he said. “It is only a matter of time before North Korea joins such exercises.” South Korea’s own naval exercises with the United States and other security partners had only strengthened Kim’s resolve, Doo added. North Korea is increasingly being drawn into the Russian-Chinese strategy of deterring the US-led Indo-Pacific alliance Doo Jin-ho, Korea Research Institute for National Strategy On Sunday, South Korea’s military confirmed that it had detected the North’s missile launches into the Sea of Japan, identifying them as likely Hwasal-series cruise missiles – weapons North Korea appeared to be fitting to both new destroyers. Analysts say Pyongyang’s own description of the missiles as “strategic” implies they are intended to carry nuclear warheads. Kim himself reportedly heralded Friday’s launch as a demonstration of the North’s determination “to possess overwhelming military strength”. “We must continue to vigorously push forward efforts to maintain and steadily expand a reliable war deterrent and war-fighting capability,” he said, as reported by KCNA. Doo said North Korea’s military alliance with Russia had funnelled technology, fuel and other resources into Pyongyang’s naval build-up. “North Korea is increasingly being drawn into the Russian-Chinese strategy of deterring the US-led Indo-Pacific alliance,” he said. “In Japan, this development is likely to strengthen calls for expanding missile defence capabilities.” Pyongyang’s pursuit of a sea-based nuclear strike option was forcing Seoul to rethink a missile defence system built almost entirely around land-based threats, Lee said, adding that it also opened up new ways to threaten US naval forces in the region with what he called “a cocktail of various missiles”. Last year, South Korea secured the Trump administration’s backing to pursue nuclear-powered submarines of its own. With the Choe Hyon patrolling the west coast and the Kang Kon set for the east, Shin Jong-woo, secretary general of the Korea Defence and Security Forum, said Pyongyang was racing to establish nuclear strike capability on both flanks of the peninsula at once. Last month’s commissioning of the Choe Hyon – tasked with the “honourable mission” of defending the Yellow Sea and deterring war, according to Pyongyang – was only the opening move.

North Korea makes play for spot in China-Russia drills with missile test

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Pyongyang’s new cruise-missile destroyers are built to project power far beyond home waters, analysts say

Pyongyang’s new cruise-missile destroyers are built to project power far beyond home waters, analysts say