SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean chief Kim Jong Un supervised the test-firing of two kinds of new antiair missiles, state media mentioned Sunday, displaying his increasing army capabilities because the South Korean and U.S. militaries carry out joint drills.
The North’s official Korean Central Information Company mentioned the take a look at Saturday proved the missiles efficient in countering aerial threats reminiscent of drones and cruise missiles, and that Kim assigned unspecified “vital” duties to protection scientists forward of a significant political convention anticipated early subsequent yr.
The report didn’t specify the missiles that had been examined or the place the occasion occurred. It didn’t point out any remarks by Kim directed at Washington or Seoul.
The take a look at coincided with new South Korean President Lee Jae Myung ’s journey to Tokyo for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the place they vowed to strengthen bilateral cooperation and their trilateral partnership with the US to deal with frequent challenges, together with North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. Lee was to depart for Washington on Sunday for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Kim’s authorities has repeatedly dismissed calls by Seoul and Washington to restart long-stalled negotiations geared toward winding down his nuclear weapons and missiles packages, as he continues to prioritize Russia as a part of a overseas coverage geared toward increasing ties with nations confronting the US.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kim has despatched hundreds of troops and huge shipments of weapons, together with artillery and ballistic missiles, to assist gasoline President Vladimir Putin’s warfighting.
That has raised considerations Moscow might present know-how that strengthens Kim’s nuclear-armed army, with consultants pointing to North Korea’s getting old antiair and radar programs as a probable space of cooperation.
South Korea’s earlier conservative authorities mentioned in November that Russia provided missiles and different tools to assist strengthen air defenses of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, however didn’t specify which programs had been supplied.
Kim held a ceremony in Pyongyang final week to honor North Korean troopers who fought in Ukraine, awarding state “hero” titles to those that returned and putting medals beside 101 portraits of the fallen, praising them as “nice males, nice heroes and nice patriots,” state media reported.
In keeping with South Korean assessments, North Korea has despatched round 15,000 troops to Russia since final fall and about 600 of them have died in fight. Kim has additionally agreed to ship thousands of military construction workers and deminers to Russia’s Kursk area, a deployment South Korean intelligence believes might occur quickly.
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