 "The Korean People's Army conducts an artillery firing drill, KCNA news agency reported, in North Korea, March 7, 2024 in this picture released on March 8, 2024, by the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS")
North Korea carried out an artillery firing drill involving units that are in firing range of the “the enemy’s capital (Seoul)”. The latest drill, second in a week, was guided by Kim Jong Un and coincided with the ongoing US-South Korea Freedom Shield drills.
‘Message to South Korea’
The artillery drill sent a message to the South, said a report by North Korean state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Friday.
North Korea began the drills on Thursday with fire by long-range artillery units “who have put the enemy’s capital in their striking range and fulfilled important military missions for war deterrence,” KCNA report said.
How dangerous are latest North Korea’s drills for South?
The Seoul area, which North Korea’s artillery unit is capable of hitting, is home to about half of South Korea’s population and about 70 per cent of its economy.
North Korean artillery units can fire nearly 5,000 long-range shells and 25,000 rounds into the metropolitan area in a 10-minute barrage, which according to a study Rand Corp. could cause thousands of casualties and catastrophic damage.
Matter of concern
Experts say it is almost impossible to defend against artillery strikes.
Even retaliatory strikes by South Korea and the US would be difficult to execute, a 2020 report by RAND Corp said.
“Much of the DPRK’s artillery is located in heavily fortified hardened artillery sites (HARTS) with air defense capabilities deployed to their rear. These physical protective measures make air strikes and counter-battery fire against the DPRK artillery a challenge for US and ROK forces,” the report added.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts‘Fulfilled military missions for war deterrence’
The KCNA report further said the military drills carried by North Korea “fulfilled important military missions for war deterrence.”
It aimed at increasing combat readiness posture and actual war capability, the state-media report said.
Kim urged to push forward with preparations so the artillery sub-units could “take the initiative with merciless and rapid strikes at the moment of their entry into an actual war.”
“He stressed the need to train all the artillerymen of the whole army into experts in artillery engagement … and set forth important tasks for rounding off the artillery war preparations,” the report said, referring to the leader of the reclusive state.
North’s drill amid US-South Korea annual training exercise
The show of force by North Korea came amid the US and South Korea’s largest annual joint training exercises that began this week, which the military in Seoul said focuses on deterring North Korea’s nuclear threats.
The US-South Korean Freedom Shield drills include training on land, sea and in the air to prepare for contingencies posed by Kim’s regime.
Meanwhile, Pyongyang has already warned that both the US and South Korea will “pay a dear price” for military activities
On Monday, North Korea’s Defence Ministry denounced the 11-day US-South Korea joint exercises as “provocative” and “reckless,” and warned North Korean forces will monitor “adventurist acts” and conduct “responsible military activities” to bring what it called an unstable security situation under control.
With inputs from agencies