Kim Jong Un Boosts North Korea’s Arms Arsenal With Third Cruise Missile Launch In A Week

Kim Jong Un‘s North Korea launched several cruise missiles off its west coast, the South Korean military confirmed on Tuesday. This comes just two days after the country test-fired submarine-launched cruise missiles from the east coast.

What Happened: The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea reported that the North Korean launch was detected at approximately 7 a.m. local time. The exact number of missiles fired was not disclosed, reported Yonhap News Agency.

“While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance, our military has been closely coordinating with the United States to monitor additional signs of North Korea’s provocations,” the JCS said.

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Why It Matters: This marks the third cruise missile launch by North Korea in a week. The country had previously test-fired a newly developed submarine-launched strategic cruise missile, the “Pulhwasal-3-31,” near Sinpo, a major submarine shipyard, on Sunday.

Military officials believe that the rapid succession of cruise missile tests is aimed at improving the performance of the new weapons system. North Korea claimed that the Pulhwasal-3-31 flew for about two hours on Sunday and hit preset targets. However, the South Korean military suspects that the North may have exaggerated the flight time.

The recent missile launches add to the growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. This is the latest in a series of provocative actions by North Korea, including multiple cruise missile launches toward the sea off its west coast on Jan. 24. These actions have further escalated tensions in the region.

North Korea’s economy has been experiencing a quiet resurgence, partly due to its sales of arms and missiles to Russia. This economic boost could potentially reduce the likelihood of a military conflict. However, the recent missile launches may reignite concerns about the stability of the region.

Meanwhile, Kim has issued a stark warning regarding the country’s worsening food crisis, emphasizing the urgent need to address the shortages. Kim, during a speech at the 19th Enlarged Meeting of the Political Bureau of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, stressed that the failure to provide the populace with basic necessities, including food, is a “serious political issue.”

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North Korea President Kim Jong Un. Photo by Alexander Khitrov on Shutterstock