North Korea marks military anniversary with firing drill
Korean People's howitzers being displayed through Kim Il-Sung square during a military parade in Pyongyang marking the 105th anniversary of the birth of late North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung. PHOTO / KCNA VIA KNS | AFP
What you need to know:
- Speculation had mounted that Pyongyang could carry out a sixth nuclear test or another missile launch to mark 85 years since the founding of its army.
- North Korea launched two missile tests this month while US President Donald Trump and his senior aides have warned that all options are on the table against Pyongyang, including military action.
PYONGYANG
Nuclear-armed North Korea marked a military anniversary with a conventional firing drill as the South announced joint naval exercises with a US aircraft carrier.
Speculation had mounted that Pyongyang could carry out a sixth nuclear test or another missile launch to mark 85 years since the founding of its army.
But no such event — which usually happens in the morning — had taken place by noon, and Seoul’s defence ministry said no unusual development was detected.
Instead the South’s Yonhap news agency cited an unnamed government source saying Pyongyang marked the anniversary with its largest ever firing drill, carried out in the eastern port city of Wonsan and presumed to have been overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un.
North Korea has ambitions to build missiles capable of reaching the US mainland and tensions have soared in recent months as it carried out a string of missile tests that sparked tit-for-tat sabre-rattling with Washington.
MILITARY DRILLS
Pyongyang’s rhetoric always intensifies in the spring, when Seoul and Washington hold military drills it sees as rehearsals for an invasion.
The North’s Rodong Sinmun — the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers’ Party — warned of dire consequences in the event of a pre-emptive strike.
“We promise the most brutal punishment...in the sky and land as well as at sea and from underwater without any warning or prior notice,” it said.
North Korea launched two missile tests this month while US President Donald Trump and his senior aides have warned that all options are on the table against Pyongyang, including military action.
STRONGER SANCTIONS
Trump on Monday urged the UN Security Council to consider stronger sanctions against Pyongyang, and US senators will be briefed on North Korea at the White House on Wednesday.
Washington has sent the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to the Korean peninsula, where it is expected to arrive — after a derision-provoking delay — later this week.
The vessel will take part in joint naval drills with the South’s forces.
