As the US and South Korean militaries conduct joint drills, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un demonstrated his growing military prowess by supervising the test-firing of two new antiair missile types, state media said on Sunday.
The test on Saturday demonstrated that the missiles were capable of successfully countering aerial threats like drones and cruise missiles, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said. Kim also gave defence scientists unidentified “important” tasks to complete before a significant political conference that is anticipated to take place early next year.
The antiair missiles that were tested and the location of the incident were not specified in the report. It made no mention of any statements made by Kim against Seoul or Washington.
The test took place while Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung travelled to Tokyo for a summit. During the meeting, they agreed to deepen their trilateral partnership with the United States and bilateral cooperation to tackle shared issues, such as North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. Lee was scheduled to leave for a summit with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Sunday.
As Kim continues to prioritise Russia as part of a foreign policy aimed at expanding ties with nations that confront the US, his government has repeatedly rejected calls from Seoul and Washington to resume long-stalled negotiations aimed at winding down his nuclear weapons and missiles programs.
Kim has sent thousands of troops and massive amounts of armaments, such as artillery and ballistic missiles, to support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military effort since Russia invaded Ukraine.
This has sparked worries that Moscow would supply technology to bolster Kim’s nuclear-armed forces; analysts suggest that North Korea’s outdated radar and antiair systems as a likely area of cooperation. The previous conservative government in South Korea stated in November that Russia supplied missiles and other weapons to help bolster Pyongyang’s air defences, although it did not identify which systems were supplied.
Last week, Kim hosted a ceremony in Pyongyang to honour North Korean soldiers who served in Ukraine. According to state media, he honoured the lost by laying medals next to 101 photographs of them and bestowing state “hero” titles on those who returned.
Estimates from South Korea indicate that since last autumn, North Korea has sent approximately 15,000 troops to Russia, 600 of them have lost their lives in fighting. The North Korean leader has also consented to deploy thousands of military deminers and construction workers to the Kursk region of Russia, a move that South Korean intelligence predicts will occur shortly.