A photo released by the official Korean Central News Agency Friday shows North Korea’s test launch of a new anti-aircraft missile system at an undisclosed location. Photo by KCNA/EPA-EFE
North Korea successfully test-fired a new anti-aircraft missile system, state-run media reported Friday, as Pyongyang continued to condemn a U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise that it claims is a rehearsal for an invasion.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test, which was held to “examine the comprehensive performance” of the new system being mass-produced at an unnamed munitions facility, Korean Central News Agency reported. Advertisement
“The test-fire proved that the combat fast response of the latest anti-aircraft missile system was advantageous and the overall weapon system was highly reliable,” KCNA said.
Kim said that the North Korean military now had “another major defense weapon system with laudable combat performance,” the KCNA report added.
The test comes as North Korea issued the latest in a series of condemnations of Freedom Shield, the major annual springtime military exercise held by the United States and South Korea.
The North’s Defense Ministry on Friday called the joint exercise, which wrapped up the day before, “no more than a rehearsal of war of aggression aimed at invading and occupying the DPRK from A to Z.” Advertisement
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.
In a statement carried by KCNA, the ministry warned that all options, including “the most destructive and deadly military means,” are being considered in response to the allies’ joint drills.
“The accumulated reckless military moves of the U.S. and the ROK, seized with the daydream that they can jeopardize the sovereignty and security of a nuclear weapons state, can undoubtedly bring the gravest consequences they do not want,” the statement said, using the official acronym for South Korea.
This year’s 11-day Freedom Shield exercise involved computer-simulated drills and on-field training, with a focus on the North’s evolving nuclear and missile threats and its deepening military ties with Russia.
The drills “reflected realistic threats such as North Korean military strategies, tactics and changes in power derived through Russia-North Korea military cooperation and analysis of various armed conflicts,” a statement from Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Thursday.
South Korea deployed some 19,000 troops for this year’s exercise, which expanded the number of outdoor field drills to 51 from 48 last year, the ministry said.
KCNA issued a commentary on Wednesday calling the joint drills “dangerous and undesirable doings germinating a touch-and-go situation, the world’s first nuclear war.” Advertisement
Last week, North Korea fired a salvo of close-range ballistic missiles into the Yellow Sea following a pair of statements criticizing Freedom Shield and warning of retaliatory provocations.
