Seoul, June 1: North Korea, on Friday, said it conducted a firing drill involving super-large multiple rocket launchers in a bid to demonstrate its resolve to stage a preemptive strike against South Korea if provoked.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised the “power demonstration firing” drill involving 600 mm multiple rocket launchers on Thursday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The South Korean military said it detected the North’s launch of around ten short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday.
It was unusual for Pyongyang to fire a salvo of some ten missiles at a time, reports Yonhap news agency.
The KCNA said the drill was aimed at showing North Korea’s “corresponding will not to hesitate to carry out a preemptive attack by invoking the right to self-defence at any time when the enemies attempt to use military force against it.”
The North’s super-large multiple rocket launch system is classified as a short-range missile that could put the entire South Korean territory within range. Pyongyang has claimed a tactical nuclear warhead could be mounted on such a weapon.
The firing “will serve as an occasion in clearly showing what consequences our rivals will face if they provoke us,” Kim was quoted as saying by the KCNA.
He stressed North Korea’s nuclear forces should be more “thoroughly” prepared in a bid to promptly and correctly carry out a mission of deterring a war.
Photos carried by state media showed 18 artillery shots being fired from multiple rocket launchers on transporter erector launchers (TELs).
The provocation came as North Korea made a botched attempt to launch a spy satellite on Monday.