SEOUL– President Moon Jae-in on Thursday called for the military to maintain a watertight defense posture amid tensions in the wake of North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch last week.
Moon made the remarks during a ceremony to award swords to a total of 75 newly-appointed brigadier generals, saying tensions are escalating after North Korea’s ICBM launch and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Moon urged the new brigadier generals to maintain a military preparedness that “eliminates any gap” in defense posture, Cheong Wa Dae said in a statement.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula heightened after North Korea successfully test-fired a massive intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on March 24, marking its first ICBM test-launch since 2017.
The launch ended the North’s self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and ICBM tests, with intelligence authorities expecting Pyongyang to raise tensions further by test-launching another ICBM or even conducting a nuclear test.
Source: Yonhap News Agency