North Korea said its latest missile launches simulated “scorched earth” nuclear strikes on South Korea and that it has been rehearsing the occupation of its rival’s territory in the event of conflict.
Pyongyang has previously tested nuclear-capable missiles and described how it would use them in potential wars with South Korea and the US, but the North’s disclosure of detailed war plans reaffirmed its aggressive nuclear doctrine to intimidate its opponents.
North Korea’s military said it fired two tactical ballistic missiles from the capital on Wednesday night to practice “scorched earth strikes” at major command centres and operational airfields in South Korea, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The North’s military said the missiles carried out their simulated strikes through air bursts, suggesting it confirmed the explosions of dummy warheads at a set altitude.
North Korea said its missile tests were in response to the United States’ flyover of long-range B-1B bombers as part of the allies’ joint field exercises.
According to South Korean and Japanese assessments, the two short-range missiles travelled a distance of 360-400 kilometres (225-250 miles) at the maximum altitude of 50 kilometres (30 miles) before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launches “a grave provocation” that threatens international peace and violates UN Security Council resolutions that ban any ballistic launches by North Korea.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said the US commitment to the defence of South Korea and Japan remains “ironclad”.
South Korean and Japanese authorities said their warplanes conducted combined aerial drills with US B-1B bombers respectively on Wednesday.
South Korea’s Defence Ministry said that the B-1B deployment is the 10th flyover by US bombers on the Korean Peninsula this year.
North Korea is extremely sensitive to the deployment of US bombers, which can carry a huge number of conventional weapons. The North describes the bombers as “nuclear strategic” although the planes were switched to conventional weaponry in the 1990s.
On August 21, the US and South Korean militaries kicked off their summer Ulchi Freedom Shield computer-simulated command post exercise. During this year’s training, the allies have included more than 30 kinds of field exercises.
North Korea calls major US-involved military drills preparation for invasion.
Washington and Seoul officials maintain that the drills are defensive. The US stations about 28,000 troops in South Korea.
KCNA said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited an army post where his military has been holding command post drills in response to the South Korean-US military training.
The North Korean news agency said the drills are aimed at practicing procedures for “occupying the whole territory of the southern half” of the Korean Peninsula in the event of war.
Mr Kim underscored the need to “deal a heavy blow at the enemy’s war potential and war command centre and blinding their means of command communication at the initial stage of operation”.
Mr Kim also detailed tasks to acquire an ability to launch “simultaneous super-intense strikes” at key enemy military targets and other sites whose destruction can cause social and economic chaos, according to KNCA.
The North’s report showed it has operational plans to launch full-blown attacks on South Korea in the event of military clashes between the rivals to achieve Korean unification by force, said analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea.
He said that North Korea plots to conduct nuclear and EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attacks at the early stage of war.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said it strongly condemns North Korea for openly revealing its intent to attack the South.
It warned North Korea will only face “an overwhelming response” by South Korea, the US and Japan if it continues its provocation and military threats.
The ministry said it was North Korean state media’s first report on command post drills involving the whole military since Mr Kim took power in late 2011.
North Korea has openly threatened to use its nuclear weapons first in potential conflicts with South Korea and the US since it adopted a new law that authorised the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons in a broad range of situations.
Mr Kim has been pushing hard to expand and modernise his weapons arsenals. Its second attempt at launching a spy satellite failed last week, but it plans a third attempt in October.
Foreign experts say Mr Kim eventually wants to use his enlarged weapons arsenals to force the US to make concessions when diplomacy resumes.
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