Kim Jong Un tests missiles, demands 'offensive posture'
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- Kim Jong Un oversaw tests of a tactical ballistic missile equipped with a 'special mission' warhead designed to strike strategic targets including airfields, ports, and power facilities, alongside an upgraded 240-mm multiple rocket launcher (range up to 90 km) and a 155-mm self-propelled howitzer with extended-range shells.
- KCNA reported Kim framed the tests as strengthening North Korea's 'deadly and destructive offensive posture' so 'no enemy dare to confront,' and he cited potential southern targets including US military bases in South Korea.
- Analyst Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies, told AFP the details amounted to 'a show of force against the South Korean capital region.'
- The tests were conducted on the anniversary of the outbreak of the 1950–53 Korean War and came just days after North Korea commissioned its first 5,000-ton destroyer, the Choe Hyon, on Tuesday.
- Pyongyang is pushing for automation, long-range capability, and 'ultra-precision' in its weapons programs, with Kim stating that diplomatic efforts can only resume if the US drops its demand for denuclearization of North Korea.
Why it matters: Kim explicitly named US military bases in South Korea as potential targets and tied the tests to a 'deadly and destructive offensive posture' on the Korean War anniversary, while Yang Moo-jin read the package as aimed at the Seoul capital region — which sits within the newly demonstrated 90-km rocket range. Coming days after the Choe Hyon destroyer commissioning and paired with Kim's precondition that the US abandon denuclearization before talks resume, the tests harden North Korea's refusal to re-enter diplomacy under existing US terms.
