North Korea said Monday that the launch of several missiles on Saturday was part of joint live-fire drills conducted by artillery and long-range missile units, involving tests of several weapons systems. Five military units took part in what the Korean Central News Agency described as a “joint fire assault drill.”
Multiple weapons used in joint drills
The drills included attack drones, cruise missiles and tactical ballistic missiles, along with multiple launch platforms for large-caliber rockets. The agency quoted an artillery commander as saying the drills would boost troop morale and improve their ability to “completely crush the enemy” when ordered.
The operation is believed to have been North Korea’s 13th known ballistic missile launch activity this year. Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul, said the operation was not a test of a single weapons system but a demonstration of an integrated attack network.
He added that Pyongyang appeared to be demonstrating its ability to coordinate drones, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and rocket artillery as part of a unified command-and-control system.
