SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un led two days of military drills “simulating a nuclear counterattack,” including the launch of a ballistic missile, state media reported Monday.
Kim expressed satisfaction over the weekend drills, which were held to “let relevant units get familiar with the procedures and processes for implementing their tactical nuclear attack missions,” said the report by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The drills were the fourth show of force from Pyongyang in a week and came during Freedom Shield, the biggest US-South Korea military exercise in five years.
North Korea views all such exercises as rehearsals for invasion and has repeatedly warned it would take “overwhelming” action in response.
The weekend drills in North Korea were divided into exercises simulating the shift to a nuclear counterattack posture and a drill for “launching a tactical ballistic missile tipped with a mock nuclear warhead,” KCNA said.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Sunday that the short-range ballistic missile flew 800 kilometers (500 miles) before landing in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.
They branded it a “serious provocation” that violated United Nations sanctions.
Kim said the weekend drills had filled the North Korean military units “with great confidence,” according to KCNA.
He also noted that North Korea “cannot actually deter a war with the mere fact that it is a nuclear weapons state,” and that it could only reach its goals “when the nuclear force is... actually capable of mounting an attack on the enemy.”
Yang Uk, a researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said the weekend drills demonstrated that North Korea’s nuclear posture was becoming “a little more realistic.”
“It seems North Korea is trying to show it possesses enough practical nuclear attack capabilities to conduct comprehensive tactical trainings for its frontline units,” he said.
Seoul and Washington have ramped up defense cooperation in the face of growing military and nuclear threats from Pyongyang, which has conducted a series of banned weapons tests in recent months.
It has also pushed South Korea and Japan to mend fences over historical disputes and try to boost security cooperation.
On Thursday, North Korea test-fired its largest and most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-17, its second ICBM test this year.
That followed two short-range ballistic missiles on Tuesday and two strategic cruise missiles fired from a submarine last Sunday.
The UN Security Council is expected to hold an emergency meeting on Monday over the ICBM launch at the request of the United States and Japan, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.
North Korea’s nuclear claims cannot be taken at face value, said Leif Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
Photos published by North Korean state media showed Kim and his young daughter surrounded by uniformed officers watching the ICBM launch.
“If these firing drills were practice for real conflict, the leader would not be in the field with his daughter, posing with missiles for the cameras,” Easley told AFP.
Analysts previously said North Korea would likely use the US-South Korea drills as an excuse to carry out more missile launches and perhaps even a nuclear test.
This is turning the Korean peninsula into “a flashpoint with higher potential for a nuclear war,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies.
“As the intensity of the South Korea-US exercises increases, the possibility of unforeseen situations increases, and as a result, mutual physical clashes may occur,” he added.
Last year, North Korea declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power and Kim recently called for an exponential increase in weapons production, including tactical nuclear weapons.
North Korea’s Kim leads ‘nuclear counterattack’ simulation drill
https://arab.news/j6xsu
North Korea’s Kim leads ‘nuclear counterattack’ simulation drill
- The drills were the fourth show of force from Pyongyang in a week
- North Korea views all such exercises as rehearsals for invasion
Trump says Greenland will ‘work out’ after Denmark fails to bridge gap
- Trump has appeared emboldened on Greenland — which he views as in the US backyard — since ordering a deadly January 3 attack in Venezuela that removed president Nicolas Maduro
WASHINGTON, United States: US President Donald Trump held open the possibility Wednesday for a resolution on his designs over Greenland after Denmark’s top diplomat said he failed to change the administration’s mind on wanting to conquer the island.
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland, an autonomous territory under Copenhagen’s sovereignty, met at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a meeting the visitors had requested to clear up “misunderstandings” after Trump’s bellicose language toward the fellow NATO member.
Trump, speaking after the meeting which he did not attend, for the first time sounded conciliatory on Greenland, acknowledging Denmark’s interests even if he again said he was not ruling out any options.
“I have a very good relationship with Denmark, and we’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out,” Trump said without explaining further.
He again said Denmark was powerless if Russia or China wanted to occupy Greenland, but added: “There’s everything we can do.”
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, speaking after leaving the White House, said a US takeover of Greenland was “absolutely not necessary.”
“We didn’t manage to change the American position. It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland,” Lokke told reporters.
“We therefore still have a fundamental disagreement, but we also agree to disagree.”
He said the issue was “very emotional” for the people of Greenland and Denmark, a steadfast US ally whose troops died alongside Americans in Afghanistan and, controversially, Iraq.
“Ideas that would not respect territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the right of self-determination of the Greenlandic people are, of course, totally unacceptable,” Lokke said.
He nonetheless said the tone was “constructive” and said the sides would form a committee that would meet within weeks to see if there was possible headway.
Referring to the British prime minister who trumpeted his diplomacy with Hitler, Lokke said, “I am not a Chamberlain to say “Peace for our time,” but we must seize the opportunities that present themselves.”
Mocking tone
While the talks were underway, the White House posted on X: “Which way, Greenland man?“
The post included a drawing of two dogsleds — one heading toward the White House and a huge US flag, and the other toward Chinese and Russian flags over a lightning-bathed Kremlin and Great Wall of China.
Neither country has claimed Greenland, and Lokke said no Chinese ship had been spotted there in a decade and that there were no major Chinese investments.
Denmark promised ahead of the meeting to ramp up its military presence further in the vast, sparsely populated and strategically located island.
Trump has derided recent Danish efforts to increase security for Greenland as amounting to “two dogsleds.” Denmark says it has invested almost $14 billion in Arctic security.
Denmark also announced immediate military exercises that will include aircraft, vessels and soldiers, with Sweden also participating.
In another show of solidarity with Denmark following Trump’s threats, Germany and France both said Wednesday they will send troops to Greenland. German’s defense ministry said it would send a 13-person team.
Signs of relief
On the quiet streets of the capital Nuuk, red and white Greenlandic flags flew in shop windows, on apartment balconies, and on cars and buses, in a show of national unity during the talks.
Ivaana Egede Larsen, 43, said she felt relief that the meeting appeared to be cordial.
“I am more calm now, and I feel more safe. I had felt very much unsafe lately,” she said.
In Copenhagen, Thomas Fallesen, 56, voiced similar sentiments.
“They are now at least talking together instead of talking through the press. I think it’s a very positive thing,” he said.
Vance, who slammed Denmark as a “bad ally” during an uninvited visit to Greenland last year, is known for a hard edge, which was on display when he publicly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last February.
Wednesday’s meeting, however, was closed to the press, meaning there was no on-camera confrontation.
Trump has appeared emboldened on Greenland — which he views as in the US backyard — since ordering a deadly January 3 attack in Venezuela that removed president Nicolas Maduro.
