North Korea launches new missile launches into the Sea of ​​Japan

North Korea once again fired cruise missiles towards the Sea of ​​Japan on Wednesday, according to the South Korean military, amid increasingly aggressive rhetoric from leader Kim Jong-un.

South Korean television shows images of North Korea's missile launch over the Sea of ​​Japan on February 14, 2024. AP - Ahn Young-joon

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"

 Our military detected several unknown cruise missiles in the waters northeast of Wonsan around 09:00 today

(00:00 GMT)

and South Korean and US intelligence services are carrying out detailed analysis

 ," the state said. -South Korean Joint Major (JCS) in a statement. The JCS added that it was "

 closely monitoring any additional signs or activity by North Korea

 ."

Since the start of the year,

nuclear-armed

North Korea has declared

South Korea

its “ 

primary enemy

 ,” closed agencies dedicated to reunification, and threatened to go to war for any violations. territorial. Pyongyang has also increased testing of military equipment, including testing what it described as an “

 undersea nuclear weapons system

 ” and a solid-fuel hypersonic ballistic missile.

Strengthened cooperation with Russia

On Monday, the North announced that it had tested a new multiple rocket launcher control system that it believes could significantly strengthen its defense capabilities. North Korea's military this year launched a series of cruise missiles, a type of weapon the North could supply to Russia for use in the Ukraine conflict, analysts say.

Also read: North Korea promises atomic response if “provoked” by nuclear weapons

Pyongyang and Moscow have strengthened ties and in September, leader Kim Jong-un made a rare trip to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin. South Korea and the United States maintain that despite UN sanctions, the North is sending weapons to Russia, possibly in exchange for technical assistance with its spy satellite program.

Tests of cruise missiles, which fly in the atmosphere, do not fall under the sanctions imposed by the UN on North Korea, unlike ballistic missiles, whose trajectory is mainly in space.

(

With

AFP)

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