The missile was launched from a tactical nuclear weapons operating unit of the Western Theater Command of the Korean People's Army at an unknown location in North Korea on August 31.
Photo: KCNA/Reuters.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) detailed how the North Korean government envisions possible attacks, in which the country would respond to any attack by launching a nuclear strike against South Korea.
“The Korean People’s Army staged a simulated tactical nuclear strike on the command centers and airfields of the South Korean army on Wednesday night,” the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army said in a statement via the state-run KCNA news agency.
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Wednesday, just hours after the US deployed several B-1B bombers in exercises with allies.
The South Korean presidential office held a security meeting following North Korea's missile launches.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said: “These acts pose a threat to peace and stability not only to our country, but also to the region and the international community, and are unacceptable.”
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Japan would intercept North Korean missiles if they flew over Japanese territory.
Pyongyang has pledged to launch a second satellite in October. The United States, South Korea and Japan have criticized the launch as a defiance and a violation of UN Security Council resolutions banning North Korea from using ballistic missile technology.
The missile launch on Wednesday evening came a day before South Korea and the United States were scheduled to conclude an 11-day joint combat exercise, which Pyongyang has criticized as preparations for war.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday inspected part of a military drill by commanding officers and senior military personnel aimed at preparing for all-out war with South Korea, KCNA said.
The exercise simulated repelling a surprise invasion and organizing a counterattack to capture “the entire southern territory.”
This simulated exercise included strategic reserve artillery forces, frontline forces... to prevent the participation of "foreign armed forces" in the conflict and "carry out simultaneous high-intensity attacks on military command centers, military ports, airports and important military targets".
Kim Jong Un has ordered the North Korean army to step up military preparations, criticizing the leaders of the United States, South Korea and Japan for raising the risk of nuclear war in the region.
Japan's Defense Ministry said the first missile in the series recently launched by North Korea reached an altitude of 50km and had a range of about 350km, the second missile reached an altitude of 50km and a range of 400km .
Nguyen Quang Minh (According to Reuters)
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