North Korea fired an unspecified number of cruise missiles into the waters off its west coast on Jan. 24, according to the South Korean military, a move that could potentially escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) didn’t specify the number of missiles fired or the distance they traveled, Yonhap News Agency reported.
“While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance, our military has been closely coordinating with the United States to monitor additional signs of North Korea’s provocations,” the JCS told reporters.
The action marks North Korea’s second missile launch this year, following the test-firing of an intermediate-range solid-fuel ballistic missile on Jan. 14, which the regime said was aimed at verifying the capabilities of its hypersonic maneuverable controlled warhead.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have increased in recent months as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues to accelerate his weapons development program and issue provocative threats of nuclear conflict with the United States and its Asian allies.
The United States, South Korea, and Japan in response have enhanced their deterrence strategies and expanded their joint military drills, which the North Korean leader portrays as invasion rehearsals.
On Jan. 19, North Korea said it tested a nuclear-capable underwater attack drone in the East Sea, which the regime claimed is capable of destroying enemy naval vessels and ports.
The weapon test was a response to joint naval drills carried out by the United States, South Korea, and Japan in waters south of Jeju Island, according to the North Korean Defense Ministry.
Following that, the JCS said that South Korea has prepared its military with “overwhelming striking capabilities” that can target “the launch sites of such weapons systems in case of a contingency.”
North Korea Shuts Agencies Handling ‘Dialogue’
Amid the countries’ tense relations, North Korea dismantled agencies promoting “north-south dialogue” and said that reunification with South Korea is no longer possible.
Kim urged the blocking of “all channels of north-south communication along the border,” including the cutting off of railway tracks and the tearing down of a monument honoring the pursuit of reunification.
The North Korean leader said his regime has no intention of starting a war, but has no intention of avoiding one either. He warned that a war in the Korean Peninsula would end South Korea’s existence and bring an “unimaginable crushing defeat” to the United States.
While the United States has repeatedly sought “direct talks” with North Korea without preconditions in favor of a diplomatic solution, Pyongyang has rebuffed those efforts.
