North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a missile test on Monday in response to the U.S. and South Korea’s significant joint military exercise and a trilateral summit involving regional adversaries.
What Happened: North Korean state media reported that Kim had overseen the launch of strategic cruise missiles from a naval patrol ship belonging to North Korea’s East Sea Fleet.
The leader inspected the ship’s weaponry and combat readiness, applauding its “mighty striking power and constant preparedness for combat to cope with a sudden situation,” KCNA reported.
The missile test demonstrated the ship's capabilities and prepared the sailors for “carrying out the attack mission in actual war.” Images of Kim, dressed in black and white, with uniformed sailors on the ship deck were released by state media.
Why It Matters: While the date of the test was not specified, the images were published on Monday, coinciding with the start of large-scale U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises, which are set to last over ten days.
This display of power from North Korea comes on the heels of the inaugural stand-alone trilateral summit held at Camp David on Friday, where leaders of South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. pledged to establish a stronger partnership. They suggested an annual trilateral summit, a three-way hotline, and yearly military exercises and intelligence sharing.
The leaders collectively urged North Korea to “abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” condemning its “unprecedented number of ballistic missile launches.”
Earlier this month, Kim reshuffled his military leadership, elevating an official who was thought to have been executed to the position of top military general amid escalating tension in the region.
The North Korean leader had then stressed the need for North Korea to augment missile production in response to rising tensions with South Korea and the U.S., during his visit to key munitions factories in the country.
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