Iran Press/Asia: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw firing drills involving nuclear-capable "super-large" multiple rocket launchers.
These exercises were designed to show North Korea's capacity for preemptive strikes against neighbouring South Korea, according to reports released by the state media on Friday. These fire drills appear to be in reference to North Korea's Thursday round of ballistic missile tests, which South Korea said were carried out.
Kim directly gave an order to organize the "power demonstration firing" that took place Thursday in response to the South Korean Army's show of force against North Korea's legitimate exercise of its sovereign rights, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The drill was aimed at showing North Korea's "corresponding will not to hesitate to carry out a preemptive attack by invoking the right to self-defense at any time when the enemies attempt to use military force against it," the report said.
The South Korean military said Thursday it detected the North's launch of around 10 short-range ballistic missiles from Pyongyang's Sunan area, adding they flew about 350 kilometers before falling into the East Sea. It was unusual for Pyongyang to fire a salvo of some 10 missiles at one time. 219
