North Korean Ballistic Missiles Fly About 350km... Third Launch This Year (Comprehensive)

Simultaneous Launch of Over 10 Missiles Is Unusual
Also Seen as Protest Against South Korea-U.S. "FS" Exercise
Show of Force Despite Trump's Overtures

North Korea Fires About 10 Ballistic Missiles. Yonhap News

On March 14, North Korea fired about 10 ballistic missiles into the East Sea.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced, "At approximately 1:20 p.m. today, our military detected about 10 unidentified ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area of North Korea toward the East Sea." They added, "The missiles flew about 350 kilometers, and South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis of their exact specifications."

The statement continued, "South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities tracked the launch activity and closely shared relevant information with the United States and Japan. Under the robust South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture, we are closely monitoring North Korea's various activities and maintaining the capability and readiness to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation."

It is known that South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are placing strong emphasis on the possibility that North Korea fired the 600mm super-large multiple rocket launcher (KN-25), which was also launched on January 27. The 600mm super-large multiple rocket launcher is a weapon system capable of striking major facilities in the South.

North Korea has boasted that the 600mm multiple rocket launcher is a "strategic strike asset," which is interpreted as meaning that it is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. North Korea has asserted that the tactical nuclear warhead "Hwasan-31" can be mounted on the 600mm multiple rocket launcher.

Recently, through the 9th Workers' Party Congress, North Korea announced its intention to update supplementary strike means in addition to its nuclear forces, and began to implement its version of the CNI (nuclear-conventional integration) strategy in earnest. North Korea also stated that it would reinforce the deployment of the 600mm multiple rocket launcher and other systems as major means of striking the South.

This ballistic missile launch by North Korea is the third such event this year and comes 47 days after the previous launch into the East Sea on January 27.

It is highly unusual for more than 10 missiles to be fired simultaneously, and this move is being interpreted as a show of force.

In particular, attention has been drawn to the fact that this ballistic missile launch took place after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his willingness to engage in dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

On March 13 (local time), President Trump met with Prime Minister Kim Minseok, who visited the White House, and stated that he "maintains a good relationship" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He asked Prime Minister Kim for his opinion, saying, "I wonder if Chairman Kim wants dialogue with the United States and with me."

Since returning to the White House in January of last year, President Trump has repeatedly expressed his intention to engage in dialogue with North Korea.

However, despite this "overture" from President Trump, North Korea responded with a ballistic missile launch in less than a day.

This provocation by North Korea is also being interpreted as a reaction to the ongoing South Korea-U.S. combined exercise "Freedom Shield" (FS), which has been underway since March 9 and will continue until March 19.

During the FS exercise, a theater-level combined training conducted in preparation for contingencies on the Korean Peninsula, the field training exercises (FTX) were reduced to less than half of last year's level. Nevertheless, North Korea protested, claiming it was a "war rehearsal for invading the North."

Kim Yo Jong, Vice Department Director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, issued a statement just one day after the exercise began, warning, "The military demonstrations by hostile forces, which approach the domain of our nation's sovereign security under the pretext of the FS exercise, may result in consequences too horrific to imagine."

Meanwhile, Japan's Ministry of Defense also announced that North Korea had launched multiple ballistic missiles into the East Sea on the same day, and assessed that they had fallen into the sea outside Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The ministry added that the Japanese government had lodged a stern protest with North Korea and issued a strong condemnation over the ballistic missile launches.

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