North Korea says ‘will surely annihilate the enemy’ with missiles if needed amid largest US-South Korea drills in years

State media said the launch of two surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missiles on Tuesday was a drill aimed at readying troops for a ‘fire assault’

It comes amid 11-day joint drills between South Korean and American forces dubbed ‘Freedom Shield 23’ that Pyongyang views as an invasion rehearsal

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A missile is launched on Tuesday by a unit of the Korean People’s Army from an undisclosed location in North Korea. Photo: KCNA via KNS /AFP

Published: 9:12am, 15 Mar 2023Updated: 10:05am, 15 Mar 2023

North Korea’s latest missile launches were a military drill designed to train crews to carry out their mission at any time and “annihilate the enemy” if necessary, the country’s state media KCNA said on Wednesday.

North Korea fired the two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast on Tuesday, South Korea’s military said at the time, the latest of several weapons tests as the South and the United States conduct their largest joint military drills in years.

The launch was a “demonstration drill” and saw two surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missiles fired from near the west coast in South Hwanghae province, flying some 611km (380 miles) over the country before hitting a target on a small island off the east coast, the KCNA report confirmed.

US soldiers walk alongside military vehicles in a training area near the border city of Yeoncheon on Monday as the “Freedom Shield 23” drills get under way. Photo: AFP

“Saying that they will surely annihilate the enemy if they fight it, the commander of the unit resolved to thoroughly have the ability to fully carry out its duty of fire assault any time by further intensifying the training of every fire assault company,” KCNA reported.

The firing of the missiles come amid the 11-day joint drills between South Korean and American forces, dubbed “Freedom Shield 23”, their largest joint military drills in years.

Pyongyang condemns the drills as a rehearsal for invasion and proof of hostile policies from Seoul and Washington.

The allies say the drills are necessary to deter North Korea, which has launched a record number of missiles over the past year, and has been observed making repairs at its nuclear weapons test site, raising fears of a new nuclear detonation for the first time since 2017.

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