North Korea: Kim Jong-un personally oversees tests - cruise missiles 'hit targets'
Created: 2022-10-13 05:26
By: Helena Gries, Daniel Dillmann, Nail Akkoyun, Stefan Krieger
The situation on the Korean peninsula is more tense than it has been for years.
Kim Jong-un fires rockets again.
More and more missile tests:
North Korea provokes neighboring countries.
Situation remains tense:
Kim Jong-un sends fighter jets, the USA sends an aircraft carrier.
All information and news about the situation on the Korean peninsula in our new ticker.
Update from October 13, 5:20 a.m .:
According to media reports, North Korea has tested two strategic long-range cruise missiles.
Head of state Kim Jong-un was "very satisfied" with the tests, North Korean state broadcaster KCNA reported on Thursday.
Accordingly, the tests should increase the efficiency of the missiles, which "are provided in the units of the Korean People's Army for the use of tactical nuclear weapons," it said.
Kim personally oversaw tests of cruise missiles Wednesday, which flew 2,000 kilometers over the sea, according to the Korea Central News Agency.
They had hit their targets, it said.
Following the tests, Kim said North Korea needed to "expand the operational area of strategic nuclear forces," KCNA reported.
According to KCNA, this photo, made available by the North Korean state news agency KCNA, was taken on October 6th, 2022 and shows Kim Jong Un, ruler in North Korea, during a military exercise of the long-range artillery division of the Korean People's Army and the Air Force Squadron at an unknown location.
© KCNA/dpa
North Korea launches seventh missile in two weeks
Update from Sunday, October 9th, 9 a.m.:
North Korea fired two more ballistic missiles on the night of Sunday (October 9th).
This is reported by the AFP
news agency
, citing information from the South Korean general staff.
The rockets were fired from the south-east of the country towards the Sea of Japan.
According to the Kyodo
news agency, the office of the Japanese Prime Minister also confirmed
the launch of at least one North Korean missile.
The seventh missile launch in two weeks came amid rising tensions over US-led military exercises in the region.
"As we strengthen our surveillance and vigilance, our military maintains its constant readiness in close cooperation with the United States," South Korea's general staff said, according to
Yonhap
news agency .
On Tuesday, Pyongyang fired a medium-range missile over Japan for the first time in five years.
The government in Tokyo had called on its citizens in two northern regions to seek shelter in buildings or basements.
The test sparked international outrage.
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North Korea: Kim Jong-un fires rockets again
+++ 8:00 p.m .:
North Korea has continued its series of missile tests.
As reported by the Yonhap
news agency
, citing the South Korean military on Saturday (local time: Sunday), North Korea fired two ballistic missiles in the direction of the Sea of Japan.
No further details were initially given.
It is the seventh time North Korea has conducted missile tests in the past two weeks.
Last Tuesday, the country also had a medium-range missile fly over the Japanese archipelago for the first time in five years.
The latest missile launch came just hours after a naval maneuver by South Korean and US forces ended on Saturday.
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan also took part in the military exercise.
North Korea: Kim Jong-un sees himself threatened by the USA
Update from Saturday, October 8, 6:45 a.m .:
North Korea has justified its recent missile tests as a defensive measure.
They are a step in self-defense to protect the country's security and peace in the region from US military threats that have lasted for more than half a century, the North Korean aviation authority said on Saturday, according to the state news agency KCNA.
Pyongyang, which has already been subject to massive sanctions for its missile program, has launched missiles six times in the past two weeks, most recently on Thursday.
South Korea, Japan and the United States then stepped up their joint military exercises in response to the North Korean missile tests.
North Korea: Kim Jong-un resumes missile tests
Update from Friday, October 7th, 7:15 a.m .:
Despite strong protests, North Korea has continued its series of missile tests.
South Korea's military said North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles again toward the Sea of Japan (Korean: East Sea) on Thursday (October 6), South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.
The missiles were launched near the North Korean capital Pyongyang.
One flew 350 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 80 kilometers, the other 800 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 60 kilometers.
North Korea: Kim Jong-un sends fighter jets to southern border
First report from October 6th, 2022:
Seoul – North Korea has flown twelve warplanes over the border with South Korea.
This is reported by the AFP
news agency
, citing information from the South Korean government in Seoul.
The South then put 30 of its own combat aircraft on alert.
The sighting of North Korea's fighter jets came just hours after dictator Kim Jong-un launched two ballistic missiles into the sea off the peninsula.
According to
AFP
, North Korea's squadron consisted of eight fighter jets and four bombers.
It is assumed that North Korea had carried out various exercises with the aircraft, which included attacks on ground targets from the air.
The planes approached South Korean airspace to within a few kilometers.
There have been no clashes between machines from the north and the south, a military spokesman told
AFP
.
It's not the first time North Korea has flown planes near the border.
However, there have never been so many aircraft in action in previous incidents of this type.
This is reported by the South Korean news
agency Yonhap
.
North Korea: Kim Jong-un tests missiles at record level
The maneuvers of the fighter jets are the culmination of a series of provocations from the empire of dictator Kim Jong-un.
North Korea launched a missile over Japan earlier this week.
In response, the United States had sent an aircraft carrier and numerous escort ships into the straits between the Korean peninsula and Japan.
North Korea, in turn, saw this as a provocation and on Thursday morning (CET) fired two more short-range ballistic missiles into the waters east of the country.
For several years, North Korea has been causing tension in the region with missile tests.
This year the tests reached a new record.
In total, the country has already fired 40 ballistic missiles.
Experts fear that Kim Jong-un will also conduct nuclear weapons tests later this year.
The last attempts of this kind took place in 2017.
(dil/skr/nak/hg/afp/dpa)
