Kim Jong-un oversees N Korean 'tactical nuclear exercise'

Kim "guided" drills conducted from September 25 to October 9 while US and South Korean troops staged a large-scale naval exercise in the waters off the peninsula involving the nuclear-powered Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The North's military staged "ballistic missile launching drills under the simulation of loading tactical nuclear warheads", it reported.

The North's military also held a series of live-fire "striking" exercises, including "super-large" calibre missile firing drills targeting major ports of its enemies on Sunday, with long-range artillery and aviation units mobilised.

"This is the verification of the operation posture of our war deterrent and, at the same time, an occasion that proved the reliability of the thorough preparedness of the state nuclear defence posture," Kim was quoted as saying by the KCNA in its English-language report.

Kim also made clear that he is not interested in talks with the US and South Korea, instead vowing to strengthen his regime's nuclear force.

"We have no content for dialogue with the enemies and felt no necessity to do so," Kim said, as Pyongyang's state-controlled media carried reports on his public activity for the first time in about a month.

The announcement came on the 77th founding anniversary of the North's ruling Workers' Party.

Seoul and Washington have sought to beef up their combined combat readiness by staging joint naval exercises recently in a show of force against Pyongyang's provocations.

North Korea has long denounced such moves as rehearsals for an invasion, calling on Washington to end its "hostile" policy. The allies stressed that the exercises are defensive in nature.

Concerns are growing that North Korea may conduct a nuclear test in the near future, with the South's state intelligence agency saying that it may be slated for between October 16 and November 7.

At a key party congress in January last year, Kim urged efforts to be redoubled on the development of tactical nuclear weapons that can be loaded with "smaller and lighter" warheads.

Last month, the North's rubber-stamp parliament approved a new law that opens the door for pre-emptive nuclear strikes by its military. Kim stated that the new law makes the country's nuclear power status "irreversible".

The North conducted a string of key weapon tests, including the launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) over Japan on October 4. The US soon redeployed the aircraft carrier to the East Sea and launched another round of joint naval training with South Korea and Japan.

The KCNA also accused South Korea's military chief of revealing his "will for confrontation" in "unreasonable and provocative remarks".

"Under such inevitable circumstances," the KCNA said, the ruling party’s Central Military Commission discussed the security situation on the peninsula and decided to conduct the military drills "under 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".

The Korea Herald

Asia News Network