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SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the delivery of 250 new tactical ballistic missile launchers to frontline troops, the Korean Central News Agency reported on Monday.
North Korean state media said the launchers were modern tactical attack weapons designed by Kim Jong Un himself and were ready to be transferred to Korean People’s Army units on the border with South Korea.
North Korea said it tested a new tactical ballistic missile last month. “We believe these missile launchers have multiple uses, such as attacking or threatening South Korea,” Lee Sung-joon, a spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a news conference, noting that their deployment near the border meant they could not reach far.
Photos released by KCNA showed rows of launchers lined up under floodlights next to red banners calling for victory at a nighttime event attended by Kim Jong Un.
In his speech, Kim Jong-un accused the United States of establishing a “nuclear-based military bloc” to force North Korea to further strengthen its military capabilities.
A spokesman for Seoul’s Unification Ministry, which oversees inter-Korean affairs, said North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs were the main threat to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea’s increasingly strident rhetoric may also be aimed at the U.S. presidential election, in preparation for negotiations following the victory of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Kim and Trump held several unprecedented meetings before a 2019 summit in Vietnam collapsed over sanctions.
Seoul and Washington hold an annual joint military exercise codenamed “Ulchi Freedom Shield” every August.
North Korea has long denounced joint U.S.-South Korean exercises as a rehearsal for an invasion.
Kim Jong-un said Pyongyang will strengthen its nuclear preparations in the near future to contain nuclear threats and protect itself.
Kim Jong Un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, attended the event, her first public appearance in nearly three months. South Korean lawmakers said last month that she was being trained to become the next leader. North Korean state media has reported on her public activities but not her political future. —Reuters
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