Al Jazeerareports that North Korea’s leaderKim Jong-un, has been 'personallysupervising' the launches of ballistic missiles over the past two weeks.
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In a recent statement on state broadcaster KCNA, the North Korean government said the ‘tactical nuclear’ drills are a warning, and come as a response to the recent joint US-South Korea naval exercises.
In fact, KCNAreports that the drills are:
the simulation of an actual war at different levels in order to check and improve the reliability and combat power of our state war deterrence and send a strong military reaction warning to the enemies.
Expanded drills under Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un may have inherited the nuclear capability of North Korea, yet since 2015 when he took charge, he has doubled the country’s testing of ballistic missiles which are capable of carrying nuclear heads, Al Jazeera reports.
At least half of all the missile launches in North Korea were ordered by Kim Jong-un, and it seems that denuclearization is no longer under the purview of the dictator.
The world is concerned
The recent launches from North Korea received criticism from the UN aviation body,the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), who recently condemned the missile launch saying it had posed a serious safety risk to international aviation.
However, North Korea on the KCNA broadcast dismissed the criticism alluding to an instigated act by the US, Al Jazeera reports.
Newsweekresonated the view of Retired Navy Admiral, Mike Mullen, who served as the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefsof Staff from 2007 to 2011, who warned about the raised stakes with North Korea in an interview forABC This Week,
The chance of a nuclear conflict with North Korea ‘is more possible than it was five years ago.
According to Newsweek, this was a record year for North Korean missile launches and nuclear drills ; also citing Retired Admiral Mullen, who believes the tally stands at 27 tests this year alone.
This comes in the aftermath of King Jong Un’s declaration that his country is an ‘irreversible nuclear power’, Newsweek reports.
Sources used:
-Al Jazeera: ‘North Korea says tests a nuclear warning to South Korea, US’
-Al Jazeera: ‘N Korea defends missile launches as defence against US threats’
-Newsweek: ‘Nuclear Conflict With North Korea 'More Possible' Than 5 Years Ago: Admiral’
- KCNA: 'Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Guides Military Drills of KPA Units for Operation of Tactical Nukes'
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