• Over 70 missile tests were conducted by North Korea last year.
• Three short-range ballistic missiles were launched by North Korea on Saturday.
• The North may have launched a missile for the second day.

Hours after North Korea launched a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters, a statement made by Kim Jong Un at a significant governing party meeting was made public.

South Korea’s SEOUL State media stated on Sunday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised to create a more potent intercontinental ballistic missile and accelerate nuclear warhead manufacturing “exponentially,” suggesting escalating hostilities with the United States, South Korea, and other nations.

Hours after North Korea launched a ballistic missile into its eastern waters to begin 2023 with another weapons test following a record-breaking number of missile launches in 2018, Kim’s remarks at a significant governing party meeting were made public.

According to the official Korean Central News Agency, Kim said, “The current situation calls for our country to double down our efforts to strengthen our military power overwhelmingly to safeguard our sovereignty, safety, and basic national interest to cope with the dangerous military moves by the U.S. and other hostile forces that target us.”

Kim was quoted by KCNA as adding that in order to mass-produce tactical nuclear weapons, North Korea must increase manufacturing “exponentially.”

Additionally, it stated that Kim has given the go-ahead to produce a brand-new variety of intercontinental ballistic missile with a quick retaliation assault capability. Kim is claimed to have also stated that North Korea will soon launch its first military spy satellite.

According to a statement from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, South Korea’s military discovered Sunday’s launch from the North’s capital region about 2:50 a.m. Before crashing into the water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, the missile, according to the report, went around 250 kilometres.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff described the launch as “a grave provocation” that jeopardised international security and peace on the Korean Peninsula. In accordance with the United States, South Korea is said to closely monitor North Korean actions and to remain ready to respond to any provocations.

The launch, according to a statement from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, emphasises “the destabilising consequences” of North Korea’s illegal weapons programmes. It stated that American vows to defend Japan and South Korea “remain solid.”

Over 70 missile tests were conducted by North Korea last year. Some experts claim that in the long run, the nation wants to build up its arsenals of weapons and exert more pressure on its adversaries to secure concessions like the lifting of sanctions.

Three short-range ballistic missiles were launched by North Korea on Saturday toward its eastern waters.

State-run media in North Korea revealed on Sunday that the nation tested the capability of its super-large multiple rocket launcher by conducting test firings. Three shells fired from the launcher on Saturday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency, hit an island target off the country’s eastern coast with pinpoint accuracy. It said that on Sunday, North Korea launched another shell into its eastern waters.

Because of their trajectories, ranges, and other features, the weapons fired from the launcher are classified as ballistic missiles by outside specialists.

The North may have launched a missile for the second day in a row in retaliation to rival South Korea’s latest rocket test in connection with its intention to set up a space-based surveillance system to better monitor North Korea. The South Korean military reported that it successfully test-launched a solid-fueled rocket on Friday. This is the same kind of space launch vehicle that South Korea hopes to employ in the future to launch its first spy satellite into orbit.

Since early last week, when South Korea accused North Korea of using drones to penetrate their strongly defended border for the first time in five years, and when it launched its own drones in the North, tensions between the two Koreas have gotten worse.

The five North Korean drones that South Korea claimed to have discovered south of the border were not all shot down, it was admitted. But South Korea has vowed to strengthen its air defence system and become more resolute in response to North Korea’s future provocations.

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