Antagonised by US-South Korea military drills, North Korea again fires multiple cruise missiles

Continuing its streak of indiscriminate missile launches, North Korea has again, on Wednesday, fired multiple cruise missiles, informed the South Korean military. The firing of the missiles comes in the backdrop of ongoing major joint military drills by South Korea and the USA.

"The South Korean military has detected multiple cruise missiles launched into the East Sea by North Korea. Detailed specifications are being analysed by South Korea-US intelligence authorities" read a statement released by S Korea's joint chiefs of staff.

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US and S Korea kicked off the biggest military drill in the past five years on March 13. It is expected to end on Thursday, but the 10-day drill has severely antagonised N Korea.

The hermit kingdom perceives these drills as an attempt at invasion. N Korea's leader Kim Jong Un last week said the country should be ready to launch nuclear attacks at any time to deter war. He went on to slam the US and South Korea for expanding military ties involving American nuclear assets.

"The present situation, in which the enemies are getting ever more pronounced in their moves for aggression against the DPRK, urgently requires the DPRK to bolster up its nuclear war deterrence exponentially," state media agency KCNA was quoted as saying.

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Last Thursday, the rogue stateallegedly fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan

Ostracised by most countries across the globe, N Korea is a pariah state where the authoritarian regime of Kim Jong Un uses almost all the revenue for its missile programmes instead of food production or public welfare.

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Last year, the country fired a record number of ballistic missiles, comfortably overtaking its combined tally of four and eight missiles tested in 2020 and 2021 respectively. N Korea even broke all records when it fired as many as 23 missiles in a single day.

(With inputs from agencies)

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