North Korea conducts Live fire exercice in Sea of Japan with heavy guided rockets.

North Korea declared on Friday that it conducted a firing exercise involving very large multiple rocket launchers to demonstrate its determination to carry out a preemptive strike against South Korea if provoked. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised a "power demonstration firing" exercise on Thursday involving 600mm multiple rocket launchers, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)
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Officials pictures of conducted exercises on May 30, 2024 (Picture source: KCNA)

The South Korean military stated on Thursday that it had detected the North launching about ten short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea. It was unusual for Pyongyang to fire a salvo of ten missiles simultaneously. The KCNA stated that the exercise aimed to show North Korea’s readiness to conduct a preemptive attack, invoking the right to self-defense at any moment when enemies attempt to use military force against it.

The North’s multiple rocket launcher system is classified as a short-range missile that could bring the entire South Korean territory within its range. Pyongyang claimed that a tactical nuclear warhead could be mounted on such a weapon.

“These launches will be an opportunity to clearly show the consequences our rivals will face if they provoke us,” Kim said, as quoted by KCNA.

He emphasized that North Korea’s nuclear forces should be more “thoroughly” prepared to swiftly and accurately carry out their mission of deterring a war.

Photos released by state media showed 18 artillery shots from multiple rocket launchers on transporter erector launchers (TELs).

The provocation came as North Korea unsuccessfully attempted to launch a spy satellite on Monday. The North also sent hundreds of balloons carrying waste and manure to the South earlier this week as a "tit-for-tat" action against South Korean activists' campaign to send anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.

The KCNA stated that South Korea had organized a "clumsy response to a dangerous armed demonstration" against the North's legitimate exercise of its sovereign right, apparently referring to the South’s recent air exercises.

The South Korean military conducted an air exercise involving about twenty fighter jets near the border with North Korea on Monday, hours after North Korea notified Japan of its intention to launch a satellite by June 4.

North Korea claimed that developing a spy satellite was its sovereign right to pursue a space development program. However, any launch using ballistic missile technology by the North constitutes a violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions against North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic programs.