N. Korea fires multiple cruise missiles off eastern coast on Wednesday: JCS

북한, 순항미사일 여러 발 동해상으로 발사 올해 5번째 Good evening. Thank you for joining us. I'm Yoon Jung-min. We start with news of North Korea testing more missiles. It fired several cruise missiles off its eastern coast this morning, marking the fifth such launch just this year. Our defense correspondent Choi Min-jung explains what's behind all that. North Korea has fired several cruise missiles off its eastern coast near the port city of Wonsan. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff detected the launch at around 9 AM Wednesday. Intelligence authorities in South Korea and the U.S., are conducting a detailed analysis. The military added that it has been closely coordinating with Washington to monitor additional signs of North Korean provocations. This is the regime's fifth cruise missile launch this year. North Korea has been dialing up tensions on the Korean Peninsula with multiple firings of cruise missiles since January. On January 24th, it fired its new strategic cruise missile, the “Pulhwasal-3-31.“ It then tested the same type of missile from a submarine, three days later. In the same week, Pyongyang conducted two more rounds of tests with “Hwasal-2“ cruise missiles off its western coast. One expert says there are multiple reasons behind the regime's frequent firings of cruise missiles. “Firstly, North Korea is not barred by UN Security Council resolutions from launching cruise missiles. Secondly, the North could be using the launch to test Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo's missile defense systems. Third, North Korea could be intending to show that it takes the lead when it comes to military issues on the Korean Peninsula, not South Korea and the U.S.“ Some experts believe the latest launches could be intended to attract Russia's attention for potential exports. However, others say that scenario is far-fetched, and instead, believe North Korea is trying to develop conventional weapons to make efficient use of them during a war, as did Russia against Ukraine. Choi Min-jung, Arirang News. #NorthKorea #KimJongun #Cruise_missile #Provocation #북한 #김정은 #순항미사일 #도발 #Arirang_News #아리랑뉴스 📣 Facebook : 📣 Twitter : 📣 Homepage : 2024-02-14, 18:00 (KST)