North Korea launches missile tests

Shriya Biswas, Staff Writer

Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of North Korea declared “Our nuclear combat forces … proved again their full preparedness for actual war to bring the enemies under their control, According to a report from the Korean Central News Agency

According to The New York Times, North Korea launched a set of missile tests in 2021, and also conducted a number of tests in 2022. North Korea’s first test was confirmed on January 22, 2021, after they had launched an unknown missile in Kusong City. Two months later, an unknown missile was launched in Onchon county. This unknown missile was later identified to be an anti-ship missile. After a brief pause of five months, the missile tests resumed again, but this time “new long-range cruise” missiles were used. North Korea successfully completed their target by hitting the North Korean waters. 

According to Reuters, South Korea’s National Security Council condemned the “North for escalating tensions, calling its moves a violation of a 2018 bilateral military pact that bans hostile acts in the border area.”

In January 2022, various North-Korean missiles assessed the intermediate ballistic range which was found capable of striking as far as Guam. The North Korean military conducted its first successful Intercontinental ballistic missile launch on March 24 and most recently fired two long-range cruise missiles. These cruise missiles are about 2,000 kilometers and are assumed to have hit their targets.