North Korea test-fires cruise missiles ahead of Trump’s visit to South Korea

SEOUL(South Korea): North Korea said on Wednesday that it test-fired sea-to-surface strategic cruise missiles in the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, ahead of the visit of US President Donald Trump to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering, South Korean media Yonhap news agency reported.

Citing Korean Central news Agency (KCNA), Yonhap said that the cruise missiles, improved for ship-based launches, were fired vertically and flew for over 7,800 seconds along a pre-set route above the Yellow Sea to destroy the target.

It was further reported that the North Korean leader did not oversee the test firing. State media targeting the domestic audience, such as the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, did not report on the latest missile launch.

Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, said the North has achieved important success in putting the country’s nuclear forces on a “practical basis.”

“It is an extension of exercising the war deterrent and an act of exercising it in a more responsible manner to continuously test the reliability of different strategic offensive means and impress their abilities upon the enemies,” Pak said as reported by Yonhap.

He called for the need to steadily update North Korea’s combat capability.

As per Yonhap, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the missile launch at 3 PM the previous day, noting that the details are being further inspected by South Korean and the US intelligence authorities.

Citing experts, Yomhap said that the missiles are estimated to be one of the Hwasal-type cruise missiles disclosed during this year’s annual defense exhibition held in Pyongyang earlier this month.

Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said the missiles’ flight time suggested they could traverse about 1,500 kilometers, putting both Japan and China within reach if fired from the Yellow Sea, Yonhap reported.

The missile launch came amid North Korea’s silence about Trump’s offer for talks. Yonhap noted that North Korea’s missile launch came as Trump expressed his wish to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his visit to the South from October 29-20 on the occasion of the APEC meetings. (ANI)