North Korea launched new cruise missiles with a range of up to 932 miles over the weekend, placing several US military facilities in the crosshairs.
North Korea's Cruise Missiles Can Reach US Military Bases
In a recently published article in Newsweek, except for those at the country's northernmost point, the missile may strike around 80 U.S. military facilities in Japan. The rocket could hit all 73 U.S. military sites in South Korea. Experts believed that North Korea is in the progress of improving its military system.
Additionally, experts think North Korea is launching missiles to put pressure on the United States to lift economic restrictions. Negotiations between the two nations over North Korea's nuclear weapons development have been deadlocked for two years; and the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, has shown no signs of resuming discussions with President Joe Biden.
In order for negotiations to restart, Kim's regime has informed the Biden administration that the U.S. "hostile" policies toward North Korea must be removed. As a result, the U.S. has urged North Korea to resume negotiations, claiming that the nation has no hostile intentions, according to a published report in Airforce Magazine.
North Korea Successfully Launches Long-Ranged Cruise Missiles
After the two Koreas test-fired missiles hours apart in a show of military strength, North Korea claimed Thursday it had successfully launched ballistic missiles from a train for the first time and was continuing to reinforce its defenses. Meanwhile, it said on Monday that it had successfully launched newly built long-range cruise missiles, its first missile test in six months and a fresh sign that the Korean Peninsula's weapons race was heating up.
The North Korean missiles struck targets 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) distant after flying for more than two hours during Saturday and Sunday's tests, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency. Before reaching their objectives, the missiles altered their courses and formed circles, as per The New York Times.
North Korea's attempts to diversify its launch choices, which currently include different vehicles and land launch sites and may ultimately include submarines, are reflected in a rail-based ballistic system. Although firing a missile from a train may increase mobility, some analysts believe that adversaries would swiftly destroy North Korea's basic rail networks that travel across its relatively limited area during a crisis.
Joint Military Exercises of South Korea, the US Provoke North Korea
In August, South Korea and the United States held a nine-day joint military drill. North Korea has frequently been pushed into conducting its own military exercises or nuclear testing as a result of joint training between the two countries. The North's launches occurred as South Korea seemed to be quickly ratcheting up its own military buildup.
Per ABC News, this month, South Korea conducted a successful test of its first submarine-launched ballistic missile. Local news media claimed that the S.L.B.M. was launched from the country's recently constructed Dosan Ahn Changho-class assault submarine, despite authorities' refusal to disclose specifics. In 2015, North Korea started testing submarine-launched ballistic missiles, with the "greatest success" reported the following year.
