Kim supervises 'attack' on SK
Source: Agencies |
March 21, 2013, Thursday
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Print Edition
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NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a drone attack on a simulated South Korean target yesterday, Pyongyang's KCNA news agency reported, and the armed forces shot down a target mimicking a cruise missile.
North Korea has stepped up its military exercises in response to what it regards as hostile joint drills by South Korea and the United States after Pyongyang was sanctioned by the UN Security Council for a nuclear test in February.
It is not known if North Korea possesses drones, although a report on South Korea's Yonhap news agency last year said it had obtained 1970s-era US target drones from Syria to develop into attack drones.
The drones were assigned flight routes and times with targets in South Korea in mind, Kim said, adding "with great satisfaction" that it was proof that North Korea was able to mount a "super-precision attack on any enemy targets," KCNA reported. KCNA also said a rocket defense unit had successfully shot down a target that mimicked an "enemy" Tomahawk cruise missile.
North Korea has said it has repealed an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War and threatened a nuclear attack on the United States.
Although North Korea currently lacks the technology to carry out such an attack, the US said it would deploy anti-missile batteries in Alaska to counter any threat.
The KCNA report said that Kim, 30, the third of his line to rule North Korea, would give orders to destroy military installations in any war zone and also US bases in the Pacific if North Korea was attacked.
North Korea's missiles have the capacity to hit bases in Japan and on the island of Guam.
Earlier in the day, KCNA denounced US moves that it said were aimed at staging a "pre-emptive nuclear strike" on North Korea, citing the deployment of a US B-52 bomber over the Korean Peninsula as well as what it said were nuclear-armed submarines. The US and South Korea say their drills are defensive.
Tensions have mounted on the Korean Peninsula since North Korea staged its first successful long-range rocket launch in December. It followed this up with its third nuclear weapons test in February.
North Korea has stepped up its military exercises in response to what it regards as hostile joint drills by South Korea and the United States after Pyongyang was sanctioned by the UN Security Council for a nuclear test in February.
It is not known if North Korea possesses drones, although a report on South Korea's Yonhap news agency last year said it had obtained 1970s-era US target drones from Syria to develop into attack drones.
The drones were assigned flight routes and times with targets in South Korea in mind, Kim said, adding "with great satisfaction" that it was proof that North Korea was able to mount a "super-precision attack on any enemy targets," KCNA reported. KCNA also said a rocket defense unit had successfully shot down a target that mimicked an "enemy" Tomahawk cruise missile.
North Korea has said it has repealed an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War and threatened a nuclear attack on the United States.
Although North Korea currently lacks the technology to carry out such an attack, the US said it would deploy anti-missile batteries in Alaska to counter any threat.
The KCNA report said that Kim, 30, the third of his line to rule North Korea, would give orders to destroy military installations in any war zone and also US bases in the Pacific if North Korea was attacked.
North Korea's missiles have the capacity to hit bases in Japan and on the island of Guam.
Earlier in the day, KCNA denounced US moves that it said were aimed at staging a "pre-emptive nuclear strike" on North Korea, citing the deployment of a US B-52 bomber over the Korean Peninsula as well as what it said were nuclear-armed submarines. The US and South Korea say their drills are defensive.
Tensions have mounted on the Korean Peninsula since North Korea staged its first successful long-range rocket launch in December. It followed this up with its third nuclear weapons test in February.
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