Updated on August 5, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. ET
North Korea is sending 250 new tactical ballistic missile launchers toward its border with South Korea, its state-run media reported, with its leader Kim Jong Un blaming the United States for creating threats that forced his country to enhance its military capabilities.
He attended a ceremony on Sunday to commemorate the transfer of a new-type tactical ballistic missile weapon system, which showcased the launchers, said the Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA.
Photos released by KCNA Monday show what appear to be vehicle-based missile launchers, with dozens of large green military trucks lined up in rows before Kim.
In a speech on Sunday, Kim said the new missile launchers were built with North Korean technology, adding that the display was the first stage of work for the planned missile force deployment by border units.
The North Korean leader blamed the U.S. for creating various types of threats that forced his country to enhance its military capabilities.
Kim also mentioned that the U.S. would remain a hostile nation for generations, regardless of which administration was in power in Washington, and North Korea had to prepare for confrontation.
“Dialogue or confrontation can be our choice, but what we must be more thoroughly prepared for is confrontation,” Kim said, adding it was the “keynote of our policy toward the U.S. that we have consistently maintained.”
North Korea would make it clear that “if the U.S. ignores our repeated warnings and continues to attempt to undermine the security of the region, it will have dire consequences for its own security,” he added.
In response, South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, refuted Kim’s remarks about the need to strengthen his country’s military power due to a U.S. threat.
“The primary reason for the threat to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula is North Korea’s illegal development of nuclear weapons and missiles, which directly threatens both South Korea and the world,” Koo Byoung-sam, spokesperson at the ministry, said during a regular briefing.
Separately, South Korea’s military said the new weapons would likely be used to threaten the South.
“We assess they will be utilized for various means, such as attacking or threatening the South,” Col. Lee Sung-joon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson, told a regular press briefing, adding that the deployment of the launchers near the border area suggests they are intended for short-range missiles.
The advanced missiles put pressure on South Korea and its allies to counter with more advanced missiles and defense systems of their own, Harry J Kazianis, president of the Rogue States Project, told RFA.
"North Korea, for the last fifteen years, has spent billions of dollars that could have gone to feed its population to improve its missile platforms. Those efforts are now bearing fruit, with the DPRK deploying missiles close to U.S. and ROK assets that look more and more advanced," he said. "The Korean Peninsula is witnessing one of the biggest missile arms races on the planet today--creating a nuclear tinderbox that the world must indeed worry about."
The advancements represent a "growing nuclear threat" to South Korea, Bruce Klingner of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation told RFA.
"The U.S. and its allies have repeatedly attempted negotiations to limit the North Korean threat, but all 8 previous agreements failed and Pyongyang rejects all entreaties for dialogue," he said. "Washington and Seoul need to augment deterrence capabilities. Unfortunately, the large-number of North Korean missiles risk overwhelming allied missile defenses."
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said that North Korea should stop such "provocative and unproductive" moves and return to dialogue.
Kim’s daughter
Photos released by KCNA show that the Sunday ceremony was attended by party, government and military officials as well as Kim’s daughter, Kim Ju Ae.
It was the first time that Ju Ae had been seen in North Korean media since May. However, the news agency did not report her attendance in its written report.
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South Korean lawmakers briefed by their main spy agency said last month that Kim was preparing Ju Ae to succeed him, though the selection was not final.
Ju Ae, whose age has not been publicly confirmed, although she is believed to be aged between 10 and 12, has been seen with her father at various events, triggering speculation she has been chosen as the fourth generation of the Kim family to lead the nation.
More than half of her public appearances with her father were related to military activity, such as overseeing exercises, according to the National Intelligence Service.
Edited by Mike Firn.
Update adds responses from U.S.-based experts and the U.S. State Department.