North Korea conducts simulated 'tactical nuclear attack' drill to 'warn enemies'

North Korea conducted a "simulated tactical nuclear attack" drill on Saturday (September 2) with mock atomic warheads attached to two long-range cruise projectiles, state-controlled media said on Sunday (September 3). As per reports, the missiles were test-fired into the ocean.

The KCNA news agency said the "counteraction drill", which was carried out early on Saturday, was in response to joint military training by the United States and South Korean forces that according to the agency had escalated tensions in the region.

"A firing drill for simulated tactical nuclear attack was conducted at dawn of September 2 to warn the enemies of the actual nuclear war danger," KCNA reported.

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"Two long-range strategic cruise missiles tipped with mock nuclear warheads were fired" from North Korea's west coast into the sea to the south, it said.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), on Saturday, released a statement saying that an unspecified number of cruise missiles were launched at around 4:00 a.m. (1900 GMT) towards the Yellow Sea.

A JCS official banished Pyongyang's claims by terming them as "exaggerated", the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported Sunday.

KCNA said that the United States and South Korea were seeking "confrontation hysteria" with their most recent joint military drills.

As per the analysts, the claims made by North Korea were aimed at deterrence.

North Korea's claims "suggest the Kim regime is desperate to deter an increasingly capable South Korea, including Seoul's strengthened alliance with Washington", said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Seoul's Ewha University.

"Pyongyang's rhetoric actually goes far beyond the logic of deterrence, probably to shore up domestic political legitimacy, which is an ominous sign for inter-Korean relations," news agency AFP quoted him as saying.

Kim Jong Un visits major munitions factory

A separate statement said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the Pukjung Machine Complex, which produces marine engines, and is a primary ammunition factory, in order to underline the significance of boosting Pyongyang's naval forces.

Kim "expressed satisfaction" and stressed the importance of the factory "in bolstering up the armed forces of the DPRK", KCNA reported.

"He affirmed that a future plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the WPK (Worker's Party of Korea) would set forth an important modernization of the complex and the development direction of the shipbuilding industry," the KCNA statement said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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