Kim also ordered North Korea's military to strengthen its preparedness near its western maritime border with South Korea.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen a test of a new surface-to-sea missile, while also ordering the military to step up preparations in disputed waters north of Yeonpyeong Island on the South Korean border, according to state media.
The Korean Central News Agency's (KCNA) report on the launch on Thursday came a day after the South Korean military said North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles off the coast of the eastern port of Wonsan. The test was North Korea's sixth missile launch this year.
According to a report by the Korean Central News Agency, Kim oversaw the “evaluation test firing of Padasuri-6, a new surface-to-sea missile that will be equipped to the navy,” and expressed “great satisfaction with the test firing results.”
The missile flew over the East Sea for 1,400 seconds before hitting its intended target, the statement said. The East Sea is known internationally as the Sea of Japan.
According to the newspaper, Mr. Kim also said that South Korea frequently asserts its claim to the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the maritime boundary between North and South Korea, and conducts maritime security and interdicts third-party ships. He accused them of violating their sovereignty. Korean Central News Agency. The North Korean leader also ordered the military to strengthen preparedness in the waters north of Yeonpyeong Island and the NLL region west of the Korean peninsula.
The waters around the NLL, which were established by the United Nations forces led by the United States at the end of the Korean War in 1953, have been the site of conflicts between the North and South in the past. In 2010, North Korea torpedoed a South Korean warship in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 sailors, and barraged Yeonpyeong Island, killing four people.
According to the Korean Central News Agency, Kim described the de facto border as “a ghost border that has no basis in terms of international law.”
“It doesn't matter how many lines there are.” [North Korea’s] “It is clear that if an enemy violates what we consider to be our maritime borders, we will consider that a violation of our sovereignty and an armed provocation,” he was quoted as saying. ing.
Kim also promised that North Korea would “thoroughly protect our country's maritime sovereignty, not with any fancy rhetoric, but with force and action.''
Earlier this year, North Korea's leader told Congress he would no longer recognize the NLL, declaring that North Korea was abandoning its long-standing goal of reconciliation with Seoul. He also said that if South Korea were to infringe on Japan's territory, airspace, or territorial waters by even 0.001 mm, it would be considered warmongering.
KCNA said in a separate report that Kim also toured a “major” military factory and learned more about production modernization.
During the visit, he emphasized the factory's role in strengthening the North Korean military, improving the quality of munitions and increasing production “as the current situation and the developing revolution require,” according to KCNA. He said that he had presented an issue for this purpose.
Kim's visit to the military factory comes as the United States and its allies accuse North Korea of trading arms with Russia.
Last month, the White House announced, citing newly declassified intelligence information, that Russia recently used a North Korean-derived short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) in an attack on Ukraine.