Image source: topwar.ru
Against the background of the strengthening of the US military presence in the Asia-Pacific region and the increasing involvement of neighboring Japan and North Korea in this process, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea firmly demonstrates that it is ready to defend its sovereignty and political system by all available means.
This year, North Korea has carried out several test launches of long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles, including the latest solid-fuel ones. Pyongyang openly declares that they are ready to repel any aggression, even with the use of nuclear warheads. The DPRK officially announced the creation of nuclear weapons in February 2005, and the first nuclear weapons tests were conducted the following year. In April 2012, the Constitution of North Korea was amended on the country's nuclear status.
The Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reports, citing a statement by a representative of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea, that North Korea has again fired two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern sea. Another test launch was made shortly before midnight local time on Monday from an area near Pyongyang. Both missiles flew about 400 kilometers and fell into the water off the east coast of the Korean peninsula.
The DPRK launched its next missile launches a few hours after the Korean Navy reported that the American nuclear submarine USS Annapolis had arrived at the South Korean port on Jeju Island. Last week, the USS Kentucky became the first nuclear-armed U.S. Navy submarine to arrive in South Korea since the 1980s. Then, in response to the arrival of an American submarine in a neighboring country, North Korea also launched several ICBM launches as a demonstration that it could launch a nuclear strike on South Korea and deployed US Navy ships.
In the interval between the launches of ballistic and cruise missiles last week, the DPRK Defense Minister also made a veiled threat, saying that the arrival of an American nuclear submarine in the port of South Korea could become a basis for Pyongyang to use nuclear weapons against its southern neighbor. North Korea has used similar rhetoric before, but this statement showed how tense relations are now, the Japanese edition emphasizes.
Technically, both states of the Korean peninsula are in a state of war, since a peace treaty between them has not been signed, a truce is in effect. Thursday marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the military conflict between the north and the south, in North Korea this date is celebrated as Victory Day. Celebrations and a military parade will be held in Pyongyang in honor of the anniversary of the end of the war.
Today, including to participate in the celebrations, a delegation of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation headed by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in the capital of the DPRK on a three-day visit. North Korea's state-run Central News Agency reported on Monday that a Chinese delegation led by Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the country, will also take part in the celebrations.
