North Korea says missile tests simulate striking South with nuclear weapons

Ballistic missiles with mock nuclear warheads meant to deliver strong message of war deterrence

North Korea has said its latest missile shower with mock nuclear warheads was aimed at sending South Korea a warning message after the demonstration of large-scale navy drills by Seoul and Washington, state news agency KCNA reported on Monday.

At least two ballistic missiles were fired by North Korea on Sunday morning, marking the seventh launch in two weeks.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who called the recent launches “an obvious warning” to South Korea and the US, was present at the launch of multiple missiles, one of which flew over Japan.

Mr Kim said that “even though the enemy continues to talk about dialogue and negotiations, we do not have anything to talk about nor do we feel the need to do so,” reported KCNA.

The hermit kingdom’s leader said he would rather focus on expanding his weapons arsenal.

Several photos released by North Korea’s state agency showed the North Korean leader supervising the missile launches carried out between 25 September to 9 October.

A TV screen at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea. (AP)

One of the projectiles, a nuclear-capable submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), was fired from under a reservoir in the northeast and has been reported to be the first of its kind.

It was launched from the reservoir and was flying above the sea target, North Korean authorities said.

An alleged missile test carried out an undisclosed location in North Korea (AP)

Kim Jong Un inspects military exercises at an undisclosed location in North Korea (AP)

Other missiles launched from North Korea were targeting South Korean airfields, ports and command facilities.

The missile that flew over Japan has been reported to be a new type of ground-to-ground ballistic missile with an intermediate range capable of travelling 4,500km.

North Korea also flew 150 warplanes in a separate live-firing military drill along with other exercises, KCNA reported.

The test projectiles were meant to “hit and wipe out” potential South Korean and US targets, the state media reports added.

Kim Jong Un inspects military exercises at an undisclosed location (KCNA/AP)

“Through seven times of launching drills of the tactical nuclear operation units, the actual war capabilities of the nuclear combat forces ready to hit and wipe out the set objects at any location and any time were displayed to the full,” the North’s official news agency said.

North Korea could conduct more provocative tests, Mr Kim has signalled.

The missile tests were a show of retaliation by North Korea to the joint naval drills carried out by the US and South Korean forces viewed as a military threat by Pyongyang.

North Korea decided to stage “the simulation of an actual war” to check and improve its war deterrence and send a warning to its enemies, the report added.

Experts had previously predicted the projectile that flew over Japan to be the existing nuclear-capable Hwasong-12 missile which can target the US Pacific territory of Guam.

But the missile fired on Tuesday over Japan’s air space appeared to be an improved version of the Hwasong-12 with a faraway target like Alaska or Hawaii, said Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies.

The missile fired from the reservoir could be North Korea’s test of exploding a nuclear weapon above South Korea’s southeastern port city of Busan, where the nuclear-powered supercarrier USS Ronald Reagan previously docked, the professor added.

This test appeared to be a new version of North Korea’s highly manoeuvrable KN-23 missile, which was modelled on Russia’s Iskander, he said.

Ankit Panda of the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said that statement from North Korea makes it crystal clear “that this recent spate of tests was their way of signalling resolve to the United States and South Korea as they carried out military activities of their own”.

North Korea has carried out a historic number of weapons tests with more than 40 ballistic and cruise missiles fired in the eastern waters of the Korean peninsula, targeting its neighbours South and Japan in almost all launches.

Experts monitoring the North Korean missile activities have said that Mr Kim would eventually aim to use his advanced nuclear arsenal to arm twist the US into recognising North Korea as a legitimate nuclear state.