North Korea fires railway-borne missiles as US tension rises

Pyongyang says drill aimed at ‘checking and judging’ proficiency of the weapons that hit a ‘set target’ in the East Sea.

North Korea confirmed on Saturday it test-launched ballistic missiles from a train in what was seen as an apparent retaliation against new sanctions imposed by the United States.

Local media said the drill was aimed at “checking and judging the proficiency in the action procedures” of the missile, adding the two guided missiles hit a set target in the East Sea.

The report by the North Korean state media came a day after South Korea’s military said on Friday it detected the firing of two missiles into the sea by its neighbor country in what became the third weapons launch this month.

The test came hours after Pyongyang’s foreign ministry issued a statement berating the US for imposing new sanctions over the North’s previous tests and warned of stronger and more explicit action if Washington maintains its “confrontational stance”.

North Korea, in recent months, has been ramping up tests of new missiles designed to overwhelm missile defenses in the region amid pandemic-related border closures and a freeze in nuclear diplomacy with the US.

Some experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is going back to a tried-and-true technique of pressuring neighboring countries and the US with missile launches and outrageous threats before offering negotiations meant to extract concessions.

KCNA said Friday’s exercise was aimed at checking the alert posture of its army’s rail-borne missile regiment.