() — North Korea Shooting at least six short-range missiles Thursday afternoon in what could be the first of many military displays on either side of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, analysts said.
Photos released by state media on Friday showed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during the Hwasong artillery unit’s drill on the Western Front, along with his daughter and military officials.
Kim’s daughter, believed to be named Ju Ae, has recently appeared at large events held in North Korea alongside her father.
“Kim Jong Un examined the actual war response posture of the 8th Fire Assault Company of the unit tasked with attacking the enemy’s operations airport in the direction of the Western Front,” state media reported.
Some 28,000 US forces are stationed in South Korea, where the US Air Force operates two major airfields, at Osan, about 40 miles south of the capital Seoul, and Kunsan, located on the Yellow Sea coast in the western part of the country.
This photo provided by the North Korean government shows what it claims to be an artillery drill at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Thursday, March 9, 2023.
The North Korean test missiles on Thursday were fired into the Yellow Sea.
Shortly after the test, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that North Korea had fired a short-range ballistic missile from the Nampo area in the west of the country.
State media reported that Kim said artillery units should prepare for two missions, “first to deter war and second to seize the initiative in war by constantly intensifying various actual war drills.”
Pyongyang is conducting its winter training and is being monitored by US and South Korean intelligence authorities, the South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday.
“Normally, the training runs until about March,” added ministry spokesman Jeon Ha-kyu.
US, South Korean and United Nations Command forces on the peninsula are expected to begin the 11-day Freedom Shield exercises on Monday, which will “integrate elements of ‘live exercises’ with constructive drills,” the Forces said. Korean Americans in a statement last week.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with his daughter, offers guidance to military officials at an undisclosed location in North Korea, Thursday, March 9, 2023.
At the same time, training exercises on the ground called Warrior Shield will take place.
Meanwhile, the US and South Korean air forces have been conducting regular air exercises. This week, a US B-52 bomber was escorted by South Korean fighters as it flew toward the South’s air defense identification zone, the USFK said Monday.
The drills between the United States and South Korea are expected to be the biggest the two allies have staged in years, since they scaled back such military displays in 2017 when then-US President Donald Trump tried to offer an opening to South Korea. North to negotiate an end to its long-range missile and nuclear weapons programs.
That opening is long overdue, as North Korea conducted a record number of missile tests last year while pledging to develop its nuclear program to arm the missiles.
Missile tests from the North have eased in 2023, but tensions on the Korean Peninsula remain high.
Analysts see no reason to think that things are going to calm down.
“This is likely just the beginning of a series of provocative tests by North Korea,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Seoul’s Ehwa Womans University, said of the missile fire on Thursday.
“Pyongyang is prepared to respond aggressively to major US-South Korean defense moves, as well as President Yoon’s upcoming summits with (Japanese) Prime Minister (Fumio) Kishida and (US) President ( Joe) Biden.”
“The Kim regime can order longer-range missile fire, attempt to launch a spy satellite, demonstrate a solid fuel engine and perhaps even conduct a nuclear test,” Easley said.
