North Korea's new missile threat looms over Seoul amid tensions
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un participated in the handover ceremony of 250 ballistic missile launchers capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads. Seoul fears they will be used for intimidation.
The rocket launchers are a "modern tactical attack weapon" that will be deployed to front-line units along the southern border, said Kim in a speech during the ceremony held in Pyongyang on Sunday, as quoted by the official KCNA agency. He added that "he personally designed" the rocket launchers.
The term tactical nuclear weapon refers to nuclear warheads with less destructive power than strategic atomic weapons.
State media emphasised that domestic factories will mass-produce mobile ballistic missile launchers targeted at South Korea. However, no details were provided about the new system.
The missiles could reach the outskirts of Seoul
- We believe are intended to be used in various ways, such to attack or threaten South Korea - said Li Sung Joon, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff Command in Seoul. - Deploying near the border would mean that the range is not long - he added.
Based on photos published by KCNA, the South Korean agency Yonhap assessed that these are Hwasong-11 ballistic missile launchers. Analysts believe they have a range of up to 100 kilometres (62 miles). This means that if deployed in front-line areas, they would theoretically be able to reach the outskirts of Seoul, which is inhabited by about half of South Korea's 51 million residents.
Kim boasts about missiles, while the country faces a flood
In a Sunday speech, North Korea's leader said that showcasing new weapons while the country struggles with the effects of flooding is the party's "push ahead with the bolstering of defence capabilities ... without stop in any circumstances" Kim again accused the US of creating various threats that "forced" North Korea to increase its military capacity.
Relations between the Korean states have been the worst in decades. At the end of 2023, Pyongyang declared null and void a key agreement signed with Seoul in 2018 to de-escalate military tensions. In January, Kim stated that South Korea is the "main enemy" of his country, ordered the closure of agencies dealing with reunification, and threatened war over "even one-hundredth of a millimetre" of territory violation.
In June, in response to Pyongyang's continuous provocations, including sending balloons with garbage, the authorities in Seoul decided, among other measures, to resume broadcasting anti-regime messages through loudspeakers at the border.
