North Korea fires strategic cruise missiles, threatens to 'mercilessly' punish US

In a statement, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry denounced the drills and slammed the US for plans to criticize Pyongyang for its human rights record. The statement warned of North Korea’s readiness “to mercilessly punish the U.S. imperialists totally denying the sovereignty of our state and its socialist system and thus make them pay dearly without fail.”

North Korea has fired two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine off the east of the peninsula, marking a new step in the state’s ability to potentially deliver a nuclear weapon that could hit US bases in South Korea and Japan. The move comes as the US and South Korea start large-scale military drills, which North Korea has pledged to respond to with an unprecedented action.

In a statement, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry denounced the drills and slammed the US for plans to criticize Pyongyang for its human rights record. The statement warned of North Korea’s readiness “to mercilessly punish the U.S. imperialists totally denying the sovereignty of our state and its socialist system and thus make them pay dearly without fail.”

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Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has also threatened unprecedented action over the drills, warning that Pyongyang would turn the Pacific into a “firing range” if the US continued drills. She also hinted that North Korea could start testing whether its warhead designs can withstand the heat of reentering the atmosphere.

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While North Korea is not prohibited by United Nations resolutions from conducting cruise missile tests, the launch from a submarine of the rockets would be cause for concern. The missiles flew on figure-8 paths for about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) before striking a target. The so-called underwater launching drill verified a North Korean “nuclear war deterrence means” ahead of the joint drills, according to its official Korean Central News Agency.

South Korea’s Joint Chief of Staff confirmed the launch, saying it had captured an “unidentified missile-test” fired by a North Korean submarine. “The detailed specifications are being analyzed precisely by the South Korean and US intelligence authorities,” the statement from the JCS said.

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The launches are the latest in a series of missile tests North Korea has conducted in recent weeks, including an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to deliver a nuclear warhead to the US mainland. The US and South Korea's Freedom Shield exercises are some of the largest the two have held in years and are designed to bolster their defenses against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats. North Korea, which for decades has decried such drills as a prelude to an invasion and nuclear war, has pledged an unprecedented response.

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The Freedom Shield drills are designed to bolster US and South Korean defenses against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, but Pyongyang has decried such drills as a prelude to an invasion and nuclear war. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who took office in May last year, brought back joint military exercises with the US that had been scaled down or halted under Donald Trump. Yoon is also looking to expand South Korea’s military cooperation with Japan, a move strongly opposed by North Korea, which lists Tokyo among its mortal enemies.

South Korea’s spy agency has also briefed lawmakers in parliament on information that North Korea may test-launch its new solid-fuel ICBMs as early as this month, adding to the already tense situation. It remains to be seen how the US and South Korea will respond to North Korea's latest missile launches and threats, but it is clear that tensions in the region continue to simmer.

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