North Korea Holds Cruise Missile Test Ahead Of APEC Summit And Trump's Visit To South Korea

JAKARTA - North Korea on Wednesday announced a trial of a sea-to-surface strategic cruise missile in the Yellow Sea the day before, ahead of the Asia-Pacific Cooperation Forum (APEC) summit which is planned to be attended by US President Donald Trump this week.

The cruise missile, which has been upgraded for ship-based launches, was fired vertically and flew for more than 7,800 seconds along a predetermined route over the Yellow Sea to destroy targets, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, without disclosing any other details, including flight distance, reported The Korea Times October 29.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did not oversee the test of the shooting. Meanwhile, Mr. Jong-chon, deputy chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, said North Korea had achieved an important success in placing its country's nuclear power on "practical base."

"This is an extension of the implementation of war prevention and its implementation actions in a more responsible way to continue to test the reliability of various strategic offensive facilities and show their capabilities to the enemy," said the Sir who oversees the trial with major defense officials.

He called for the need to gradually update North Korea's combat capabilities.

"Specifically, it is our mission and task that is responsible for continuing to strengthen the nuclear combat posture," said Pak.

KCNA said Pak reviewed the training of new destroyers weighing 5,000 tons, Choe Hyon and Kang Kon, to operate warships and their weapons systems.

Meanwhile, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said they detected the missile launch at 15.00 a.m. the day before, adding detailed specifications were being analyzed by South Korean and US intelligence authorities.

"Our military maintains a full readiness posture to respond aggressively to any provocations by North Korea, while closely monitoring various North Korean movements under a firm joint defense posture with the United States," he said.

Pyongyang's missile launch came as President Trump expressed his desire to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his visit to South Korea on October 29-30.

The launch of this latest missile marks North Korea's first cruise missile launch in five months.

Experts say the missiles are thought to be one of the Hwasal type cruise missiles revealed at the annual defense exhibition held earlier this month.

North Korea first tested the Hwasal-1 and Hwasal-2 cruise missiles respectively in September 2021 and January 2022, and has since launched several Hwasal-1 and Hwasal-2 missiles which are estimated to have normal flight ranges of 1,500 kilometers and 2,000 kilometers, respectively.

Experts say the Hwasal cruise missile is likely to be installed on North Korea's new vertical launch system of destroyers and used as maritime nuclear weapons.

Hong Min, senior analyst at Korea's National Unification Institute, said the missile's flight time showed the missile could cover a distance of about 1,500 kilometers, placing Japan and China within reach if fired from the Yellow Sea.