North Korea test-fired four strategic cruise missiles on Thursday in a show of its nuclear combat force, its state media said on Friday, as South Korea and the United States began tabletop exercises this week.
KCNA said the drill was aimed at verifying the weapon system’s reliability and the rapid-response capabilities of the strategic cruise missile units, which are one of North Korea’s nuclear deterrents.
According to the report, the missiles “precisely hit a preset target on the East Sea of Korea after traveling the 2,000 kilometers-long elliptical and eight-shaped flight orbits for 10,208 seconds to 10,224 seconds.”
US–South Korea Tabletop Drill
The missile launches occurred while the United States and South Korea staged a simulated tabletop exercise at the Pentagon on Wednesday to hone their joint response capabilities against North Korean nuclear threats.“Given the DPRK’s recent aggressive nuclear policy and advancements in nuclear capabilities, the [tabletop exercise] scenario focused on the possibility of the DPRK’s use of nuclear weapons,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
Delegates from both nations discussed alliance deterrence to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and potential options for dealing with North Korea’s nuclear weapon use, it stated.
“The delegations discussed how best to leverage ROK’s non-nuclear capabilities to support nuclear deterrence against DPRK nuclear threats,” it said, referring to South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.
The U.S. and South Korean delegations also visited the naval submarine facility Kings Bay in Georgia on Thursday.
The United States reaffirmed its commitment to working with South Korea using “an effective mix of capabilities, concepts, deployments, exercises, and tailored options” to deter North Korea’s aggression.
North Korea’s Actions Not Beneficial to China
State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Thursday that North Korea’s nuclear development program will not benefit China, a major ally of North Korea, because it poses a threat to regional security.“The DPRK’s ballistic missile program, its nuclear program, it is not only a threat to the United States and our people; it’s not only a threat to our treaty allies—Japan and the ROK in this case—but it is a threat to peace and security across the region, and that is not something that the PRC likes to see,” he said, referring to China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.
“It is not something that the PRC should seek to encourage, and we would like to see all countries, including the permanent five—Russia and China in this case—again, not ignore but uphold the resolutions that they themselves have passed,” Price added.
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the Security Council’s failures to respond enabled North Korea to conduct its destabilizing missile launches “without fear of consequences.”
“The reality is that those who shield the DPRK from the consequences of its escalatory missile tests put the Asian region, and entire world, at risk of conflict,” Thomas-Greenfield said at a council briefing in New York.
“If two member states continue to prevent this council from carrying out its mandate, we should expect the DPRK to continue to defiantly develop and test these weapons. The council’s lack of action is worse than shameful. It is dangerous,” she added.
North Korea launched more than 70 missiles last year, including potentially nuclear-capable weapons of various ranges targeting South Korea and the continental United States.
The United States has been urging for a return to the diplomatic approach to resolve the tensions, a call North Korea has ignored due to what it says are the United States and its allies’ “hostile policies” toward North Korea’s totalitarian regime.
