North Korea, "Railway Mobile Missile Regiment Firing Drill"... Appears to Show 'Strong Will for Tough Response'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] North Korea announced on the 15th that its Railway Mobile Missile Regiment conducted an inspection firing drill the previous day.

Korean Central News Agency reported that "On the 14th, an inspection firing drill to assess the combat readiness of the Railway Mobile Missile Regiment in North Pyongan Province was conducted."

Command members of the Korean People's Army and senior officials from the National Defense Science Academy supervised the drill, and Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party, did not observe it.

The agency stated, "The inspection firing drill was conducted with the purpose of checking the combat readiness posture of the Railway Mobile Missile Regiment's soldiers and enhancing their firepower mission capability," adding, "On the morning of the 14th, the Railway Mobile Missile Regiment received an unexpected firepower mission from the General Staff and quickly maneuvered to the designated launch points, striking the set targets in the East Sea with two tactical guided missiles."

Earlier, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, North Korea launched two projectiles presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles toward the northeast East Sea from the Uiju area in North Pyongan Province at around 2:41 PM and 2:52 PM the previous day. Experts estimate these to be the recently upgraded 'North Korean version of Iskander (KN-23)' or 'North Korean version of ATACMS.'

This missile launch appears to be related to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' statement the previous day. In the morning, North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "If the United States insists on taking such a confrontational stance, we cannot help but respond more strongly and clearly." Jeong Seong-jang, head of the North Korea Research Center at the Sejong Institute, analyzed, "By unusually disclosing the timing of the missile launch drill decision, it indirectly suggests that the strong response to the U.S. unilateral sanctions announced in the morning through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson's statement and the missile launch drill in the afternoon are effectively connected."

However, since North Korea did not explicitly link the launch to U.S. sanctions, it is assessed that they moderated the level of tension. Jeong said, "While North Korea is showing a 'strong against strong' stance toward the U.S. through its actions, it appears to be restraining excessive tension on the Korean Peninsula, mindful of China's concerns as it prepares to host the Olympics in 20 days."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.