"Warning to Enemies"... North Korea Conducts First Ever Nuclear Retaliation Drill with Super-Large Multiple Launch Rocket System Targeting South Korea (Comprehensive)

Training within the National Nuclear Weapon Comprehensive Management System 'Nuclear Trigger'
Super Large Multiple Rocket Launcher Hits Island Target at 352 km Range
Kim Jong-un: "Expansion of Tactical Nuclear Attack Operations, Realization of Multiplicity"

North Korea announced on the 23rd that it conducted a comprehensive tactical exercise simulating a nuclear counterattack using super-large multiple rocket launchers under the leadership of Chairman Kim Jong-un. [Image source=Yonhap News]

North Korea announced on the 23rd that it conducted a comprehensive tactical exercise simulating a nuclear counterattack using super-large multiple rocket launchers under the leadership of Chairman Kim Jong Un. It is interpreted as a tactical nuclear attack drill aimed at South Korea.

The Workers' Party of Korea's official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, reported on the same day that for the first time, a training exercise was conducted operating a super-large multiple rocket launcher unit within the national nuclear weapons comprehensive management system called the 'Nuclear Trigger.' Although North Korea conducted a simulated nuclear counterattack comprehensive tactical exercise in March last year, this is presumed to be the first since the establishment of the 'Nuclear Trigger.'

The newspaper emphasized that the purpose of this exercise was "to demonstrate the reliability, excellence, power, and various means of our nuclear forces, and to fundamentally strengthen the quantity and quality of nuclear forces," calling it "a clear warning signal to the enemies."

The background for conducting the exercise was cited as the ongoing Korea-U.S. combined fleet comprehensive exercise (KFT) and the joint air infiltration exercise conducted on the 18th.

The newspaper claimed, "The continuous military provocations by hostile forces attempting to crush our republic by force" are "urgently demanding us to stockpile the strongest military power more overwhelmingly and more rapidly."

According to the report, the exercise proceeded in order with a live drill to master the procedures for units to implement nuclear counterattack readiness when the nation's highest nuclear crisis alert system, the 'Hwasan Alert,' is issued, followed by a nuclear counterattack command system operation drill, and firing of super-large multiple rocket launcher shells equipped with simulated nuclear warheads.

North Korea announced on the 23rd that it conducted a comprehensive tactical exercise simulating a nuclear counterattack using super-large multiple rocket launchers under the leadership of Chairman Kim Jong-un.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The super-large multiple rocket launcher mobilized in the exercise is a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) with a range of 400 km. Korea-U.S. intelligence agencies refer to it as the KN-25.

North Korea claimed the day before that the super-large multiple rocket launcher hit an island target at a range of 352 km, and considering that the straight-line distance from Pyongyang to Gyeryongdae, where the Army, Navy, and Air Force headquarters are located, is around 350 km, it is effectively classified as a dedicated weapon targeting South Korean military facilities.

Chairman Kim praised the high accuracy of the super-large multiple rocket launcher, saying, "It was like watching a sniper rifle shot," and commended, "Our world's strongest Korean-style tactical nuclear attack means boasting formidable power are being strictly prepared to be swiftly and thoroughly mobilized in a counterattack posture to faithfully perform their critical strategic missions in emergencies."

North Korea is also believed to have conducted integrated operational training for equipping nuclear warheads on the super-large multiple rocket launcher. Chairman Kim expressed satisfaction, saying, "With the successful progress of today's simulated nuclear counterattack comprehensive tactical exercise, the operational space for tactical nuclear attacks has expanded, and the Party Central Committee's nuclear force construction plan for achieving diversification has been accurately realized."

Earlier, the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that North Korea fired several projectiles presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area toward the East Sea at around 3:01 p.m. the previous day. The Joint Chiefs explained, "North Korean missiles flew about 300 km and landed in the East Sea."

Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, explained, "The super-large multiple rocket launchers are deployed in the western and eastern front regions and have multiple launch capabilities and precision guidance capabilities," adding, "With a maximum range of up to 400 km, it is a weapons system intended to strike major airfields and military facilities in the southern region, including the Seoul metropolitan area of South Korea."