North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised the test-firing of two types of new anti-air missiles, North Korean state media said yesterday, displaying his expanding military capabilities as the South Korean and US militaries carry out joint drills.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the test on Saturday proved the missiles effective in countering aerial threats such as drones and cruise missiles, and that Kim assigned unspecified “important” tasks to defense scientists ahead of a major political conference expected early next year.
The report did not specify the missiles that were tested or where the event took place. It did not mention any remarks by Kim directed at Washington or Seoul.
Photo: Korean Central News Agency via AP
The test coincided with new South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s trip to Tokyo for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, where they vowed to strengthen bilateral cooperation and their trilateral partnership with the US to address common challenges, including North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. Lee was to depart for Washington yesterday for a summit with US President Donald Trump.
Kim’s government has repeatedly dismissed calls by Seoul and Washington to restart long-stalled negotiations aimed at winding down his nuclear weapons and missiles programs, as he continues to prioritize Russia as part of a foreign policy aimed at expanding ties with nations confronting the US.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kim has sent thousands of troops and large shipments of weapons, including artillery and ballistic missiles, to help fuel Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war.
That has raised concerns Moscow could provide technology that strengthens Kim’s nuclear-armed military, with experts pointing to North Korea’s aging anti-air and radar systems as a likely area of cooperation.
South Korea’s previous conservative government said in November last year that Russia supplied missiles and other equipment to help strengthen air defenses of Pyongyang, but did not specify which systems were provided.
Kim held a ceremony in Pyongyang last week to honor North Korean soldiers who fought in Ukraine, awarding state “hero” titles to those who returned and placing medals beside 101 portraits of the fallen, praising them as “great men, great heroes and great patriots,” state media reported.
North Korea has sent about 15,000 troops to Russia since last fall and about 600 of them have died in combat, according to South Korean assessments.
Kim has also agreed to send thousands of military construction workers and deminers to Russia’s Kursk region, a deployment South Korean intelligence said could happen soon.