Joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States: Pyongyang multiplies warning signals
Freedom Shield joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States: U.S. Army Chinook aircraft on manoeuvre on March 19, 2023. REUTERS - KIM HONG-JI
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For more than a week, demonstrations of force have been taking place on both sides of the 38th parallel. On Monday, North Korea said its missile launch on Sunday was a "simulated nuclear attack on a major enemy target." A test carried out in the presence of Kim Jong-un and his daughter which is a direct response to the joint exercises of the South Korean and American armies that began last Monday. Since then, the North Korean regime has redoubled its means to denounce what it perceives as the repetition of an invasion of its territory.
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with our correspondent in Seoul, Nicolas Rocca
Almost every day Pyongyang has shown its hostility to Freedom Shield, the joint exercises of the United States and South Korea. Cruise missile launches from a submarine, two short-range missiles, a launch of Hwasong 17, a missile theoretically capable of hitting all US territory, and finally what Kim Jong-un called a simulation of a "nuclear counterattack".
► READ ALSO: Pyongyang launches two missiles before major exercises between the United States and South Korea
Less impressive than an intercontinental missile, the ballistic projectile tested on Sunday is no less worrying, because it is the most likely to be used in the event of a conflict on the Korean peninsula. According to state media, it possessed a fake nuclear charge and exploded 800 meters above its target.
Another announcement: 1.4 million North Koreans have volunteered to join the army to fight against Seoul and Washington. Demonstrations of forces mirroring those taking place on the other side of the border.
► READ ALSO: Is it the opening of hostilities before a long period of tensions between the two Koreas?
This Monday for the first time in five years begin the famous amphibious exercises between the South Korean and American armies. Simulations of landing on a hostile coast that will last two weeks, and could again provoke the anger of Pyongyang.
► Read also: "The alliance between the United States and South Korea goes beyond the North Korean threat"
A woman walks past a television broadcasting a news program with archival footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul on February 18, 2023. North Korea fired an alleged long-range ballistic missile on Feb. 18, South Korea's military said. AFP - ANTHONY WALLACE
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- North Korea
- South Korea
- United States