Pyongyang: North Korea conducted a firepower strike drill involving artillery and missile units last week, state media reported Monday, following a trilateral military exercise by South Korea, the United States, and Japan.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the report followed South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) detecting multiple short-range ballistic missiles launched from North Korea's Wonsan area toward the East Sea on Saturday. "A joint firepower attack drill of long-range artillery and missile units of the combined units at all levels of the Korean People's Army took place on Sept. 12," the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
The drill involved selected subunits from five artillery and missile joint units, featuring new combat systems, including attack drones, tactical cruise missiles, large-caliber thermal-pressure multiple rocket launchers, and tactical ballistic missiles. North Korea claimed all strike weapon systems hit their targets with 100 percent accuracy, demonstrating the "unity and simultaneity of firepower attack."
Notably absent from the drill was North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Instead, Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the North's Central Military Commission, observed the exercise. Yu Chang-son, director of the artillery bureau of the military, stated that the drill would enhance the "level of specialization to bring down the enemy's armed forces organizationally and structurally," with a commitment to "steadily enhance the counterattack posture against the enemy through practical drills."
Pyongyang typically reports missile launches the following day. However, in recent months, North Korea had skipped such reports, making this announcement, appearing only in the KCNA, notable. It was not featured in domestic media, including the party newspaper Rodong Sinmun.
Saturday's launches marked North Korea's 13th ballistic missile launch of the year, involving Hwasong-11 series short-range ballistic missiles and rounds from 600-millimeter super-large multiple rocket launchers. This event followed the conclusion of the five-day Freedom Edge exercise by Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo in international waters.
North Korean Defense Minister Kim Song-gi criticized the exercise, warning of "strong and reflective countermeasures" against what the North termed U.S.-led military provocations. Despite the tensions, the trilateral drills proceeded as planned, even as Seoul and Washington scaled back their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise last month, following an order from U.S. President Donald Trump, seen as a conciliatory gesture toward Pyongyang.
President Trump has expressed his willingness to meet with North Korean leader Kim this year.