A day after sending hundreds of feces and garbage-filled balloons into South Korea over the militarized border, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a new military exercises showcasing the north’s ability to mount “preemptive attacks”. 

North Korean media released several photos as well as footage of choreographed launches of at least eighteen short-range ballistic missiles from the Sunan area on Friday.

The projectiles reportedly fell into the Sea of Japan after going a distance of over 200 miles. 

State media said this “salvo of a firepower sub-unit was carried out by operating the integrated fire-control system,” which was described as “a part of the national combined nuclear weapons management system.“

This appears an ongoing response by Pyongyang to the US-South Korea drills that began on May 27, involving over 90 aircraft, among them the advanced F35A stealth fighters.

Watch the impressive footage released by North Korean state media…

Kim Jong Un has attended a launch of 18 KN-25 ballistic missiles.

North Korea has transferred hundreds of these missiles to Russia, which has bombarded Ukrainian cities with them.

They have a range of 380 km

🇰🇵🇷🇺 pic.twitter.com/vhB3htuNLW

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 31, 2024

According to an AP description:

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported that the rocket firing drills were meant to demonstrate North Korea’s resolve not to hesitate in launching a preemptive strike on South Korea if threatened. It cited Kim as saying that the drills “will serve as an occasion in clearly showing what consequences our rivals will face if they provoke us.”

Photos showed Kim watching from a distance as at least 18 projectiles were launched.

The government of South Korea called on the north to North Korea must stop the “absurd, irrational provocations directed at us” or face unspecified “unbearable” consequences.

Starting almost a year ago, the US military began parking a nuclear-armed submarine, the USS Kentucky, at a South Korean port, which has outraged Pyongyang.