A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending a ceremony to transfer a new-type tactical ballistic missile weapon system in Pyongyang, North Korea. Photo by KCNA/EPA-EFE
SEOUL, Aug. 5 (UPI) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presided over an event marking the movement of new nuclear-capable ballistic missile launchers to frontline units, state media reported Monday, in the latest round of escalating tensions along the inter-Korean border.
Kim led a “ceremony for transferring 250 new-type tactical ballistic missile launchers” in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang on Sunday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
Before the ceremony, Kim reviewed the launchers, which KCNA said were commissioned as a “new pivotal attack weapon of the DPRK armed forces” and would be transferred to the “frontier military units.”
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.
Details were not provided about the new launchers, but North Korea has held recent weapons tests of nuclear-capable short-range ballistic missiles.
Last month, the North launched a new version of its Hwasong-11 which it claimed was capable of carrying a “super-large warhead.”
The missile, also known as the KN-23, is a highly maneuverable weapon believed to have been used by Russia in its war against Ukraine. North Korea has been supplying weapons to Moscow as the centerpiece of a strengthening economic and military relationship between the two isolated regimes, Washington and Seoul say.
The North Korean leader pointed to “ever-escalating military confrontation moves” by the United States and its allies as the incitement for Pyongyang to continue developing its weapons capabilities.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which oversees inter-Korean relations, rebutted Kim’s claim Monday.
“The main reason for threatening peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula is that North Korea is illegally developing nuclear weapons and missiles and thereby directly threatening South Korea and the world,” ministry spokesman Koo Byoung-sam said at a press briefing.
In a separate briefing, the South Korean military said it was working with the United States to “track and confirm the performance and deployment of weapons systems that North Korea has publicly reported.”
The weapons appear “intended to be used for various means, both for attack and for threats against South Korea,” Col. Lee Sung-joon, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.
In his address, Kim also mentioned the recent reports of flooding and damage from heavy rains that struck North Korea last week. The city of Sinuiju and Uiju County, which border China, were inundated with record-breaking rain that may have left over 1,000 people dead or missing, according to South Korean media.
“To hold a ceremony of transferring the new-type weapon system, even at a time when the whole country has turned out in a campaign for recovery from flood damage, is a manifestation of the firm will of our Party to push ahead with the bolstering of defense capabilities,” Kim said.
Over the weekend, Kim slammed South Korea’s “rubbish” media for spreading “false rumors” about the flood casulaties, according to KCNA. He also thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for his offer of assistance, saying he could “deeply feel the special emotion towards a genuine friend in the most difficult period.”