North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally oversaw the tests of two cruise missiles launched from a submarine on Saturday, state news agency KCNA announced.
“Cruise missiles flew over the East Sea (…) to hit the island target” on Sunday, KCNA reported this evening (already Monday in Pyongyang).
The South Korean military announced that North Korea had fired several cruise missiles at a time of rising tensions between the two neighbors on the Korean Peninsula.
“Our military has detected several unidentified cruise missiles launched near the sea area [perto da cidade] 08:00 from Sinpo, North Korea [23:00 de sábado em Lisboa]”, South Korean civil servants announced in a statement.
This week, Pyongyang fired cruise missiles west of the Korean Peninsula into the Yellow Sea, what it says are a new generation of strategic cruise missiles.
South Korean and North American secret services are investigating the launch and closely monitoring North Korea's other moves and activities.
Atmospheric cruise missile tests are not subject to UN sanctions on North Korea. Unlike ballistic missiles, its trajectory is mainly through space.
On Thursday, a day after Pyongyang launched cruise missiles, which did not specify a number, North Korea's official KCNA news agency said it was part of “a process of continuing to upgrade the weapons system and regular and mandatory action.”
“The test firing has no impact on the security of neighboring countries and is not related to the regional situation,” he said.
Tensions between Pyongyang and Seoul have risen sharply in recent months. The two rival countries abandoned agreements reached in 2018 to prevent armed incidents and increase military resources along the border.
On New Year's Day, Kim Jong-un said the Korean peninsula was “closer to armed conflict” and last week ordered the removal of symbols of reconciliation with South Korea, an “unchangeable main enemy” and “first-class” puppet”.
In response, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said Kim's comments showed the “anti-national and anti-historic” nature of the North Korean administration, saying his country would maintain security readiness and that the North would be punished “many times”. is provocation.