North Korea claims a successful test of a missile carrying multiple warheads, a claim South Korea rejects as a failed launch. Tensions rise with joint military drills involving the U.S., South Korea, and Japan.
Bollywood Fever: North Korea has announced the successful completion of a significant missile test aimed at developing missiles with multiple warheads, according to state media agency KCNA. However, South Korea has dismissed the claim as a “deception” to cover up a failed launch.
KCNA reported that the test was conducted on Wednesday using the first-stage, solid-fuel engine of an intermediate-range ballistic missile. This announcement followed South Korea’s military report that North Korea had launched what appeared to be a hypersonic missile off its east coast, which exploded midair.
The North Korean state media claimed that the missile succeeded in separating warheads, which accurately targeted three preset locations. This test purportedly aimed at developing Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle (MIRV) technology, designed to destroy individual targets with multiple warheads.
“The purpose was to secure the capability to destroy individual targets using multiple warheads,” the KCNA report stated.
Contrarily, South Korea’s military, supported by a joint analysis with the U.S. military, asserted that the missile blew up in its initial stage of flight. “Today North Korea disclosed something, but we believe it’s simply a means of deception and exaggeration,” said Lee Sung-joon, spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. He also suggested that the photos released by North Korea were either fabricated or recycled from previous launches.
The missile launch has been condemned by South Korea, the United States, and Japan as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and a serious threat. The countries also warned against further provocations following last week’s summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In response to the escalating tensions, the three nations have begun large-scale joint military drills involving navy destroyers, fighter jets, and the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. The “Freedom Edge” exercise, devised during the three-way summit at Camp David last year, aims to bolster defense against missiles, submarines, and air attacks.
North Korea has criticized the arrival of the carrier as a “very dangerous” demonstration of force. During Putin’s first visit to North Korea in 24 years, he and Kim Jong Un signed a mutual defense pact, which Kim hailed as an alliance, but which South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol labeled “anachronistic.”
On Thursday, South Korea announced sanctions against four entities, including two Russian shipping companies and four Russian vessels, for involvement in illegal shipments of weapons and petroleum products. South Korea and the United States have accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia for use in the Ukraine war, allegations both Russia and North Korea deny.
Additionally, South Korea sanctioned a North Korean entity and eight individuals for their involvement in missile development projects.
In a separate KCNA report, North Korean defense minister Kang Sun Nam condemned Ukraine’s attack on Crimea with U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles, which Russia claimed killed at least four people and injured 151. Kang described the attack as an “inexcusable, heinous act against humanity” and accused Washington of being a “top-class state sponsor of terrorism.”
The U.S. State Department responded, stating that Washington provided weapons to Ukraine to help it defend its sovereign territory, including Crimea.
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