Previously: South Korea and America Try to Do Show of Strength, But Missile Malfunctions and Crashes

North Korea still exists, by the way.

The US is still threatening to destroy them for no reason.

AP:

North Korea’s recent barrage of missile launches were the simulated use of its tactical battlefield nuclear weapons to “hit and wipe out” potential South Korean and U.S. targets, state media reported Monday, as its leader Kim Jong Un signaled he would conduct more provocative tests.

The North’s statement, released on the 77th birthday of its ruling Workers’ Party, is seen as an attempt to burnish Kim’s image as a strong leader at home amid pandemic-related hardships as he’s defiantly pushing to enlarge his weapons arsenal to wrest greater concessions from its rivals in future negotiations.

“Through seven times of launching drills of the tactical nuclear operation units, the actual war capabilities … of the nuclear combat forces ready to hit and wipe out the set objects at any location and any time were displayed to the full,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

KCNA said the missile tests were in response to recent naval drills between U.S. and South Korean forces, which involved the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan for the first time in five years.

Viewing the drills as a military threat, North Korea decided to stage “the simulation of an actual war” to check and improve its war deterrence and send a warning to its enemies, KCNA said.

North Korea considers U.S.-South Korean military drills as an invasion rehearsal, though the allies have steadfastly said they are defensive in nature. Since the May inauguration of a conservative government in Seoul, the U.S. and South Korean militaries have been expanding their exercises, posing a greater security threat to Kim.

The launches — all supervised by Kim — included a nuclear-capable ballistic missile launched under a reservoir in the northeast; other ballistic missiles designed to launch nuclear strikes on South Korean airfields, ports and command facilities; and a new-type ground-to-ground ballistic missile that flew over Japan, KCNA reported. It said North Korea also flew 150 warplanes for separate live-firing and other drills in the country’s first-ever such training.

Cheong Seong-Chang at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea said the missile launches marked the first time for North Korea to perform drills involving army units tasked with the operation of tactical nuclear weapons.

The North’s public launch of a missile from under an inland reservoir was also the first of its kind, though it has previously test-launched missiles from a submarine.

Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies, said North Korea likely aims to diversify launch sites to make it difficult for its enemies to detect its missile liftoffs in advance and conduct preemptive strikes.

KCNA said when the weapon launched from the reservoir was flying above the sea target, North Korean authorities confirmed the reliability of the explosion of the missile’s warhead, apparently a dummy one, at the set altitude.

…

“The U.S. and the South Korean regime’s steady, intentional and irresponsible acts of escalating the tension will only invite our greater reaction, and we are always and strictly watching the situation crisis,” Kim was quoted as saying.

It’s obvious that Kim is the good guy. He just wants to be left alone.

Previously: Kim Fires Missiles After Kamala Harris Leaves South Korea

This whole World War III thing is a bumbling debacle, reaching slapstick comedy levels.

People are making fun of Russia’s losses in the Ukraine. Maybe there is something to make fun of there, maybe they should have been prepared for a total onslaught from the entirety of NATO. Things are clearly going to change on that front after the mobilization gets rolling.

Meanwhile, the US and her allies can’t even fire missiles correctly.

The Guardian:

South Korea’s military has apologised after a missile it launched during a drill on Tuesday malfunctioned and crashed to the ground, causing alarm among nearby residents who thought they were under attack from North Korea, which had test launched a missile earlier in the day.

The live-fire drill, involving South Korea and the US, was supposed to be a show of strength by the allies, hours after the North sent an intermediate-range missile over northern Japan.

Instead, it ended in embarrassment when a short-range Hyumoo-2 ballistic missile crashed to the ground inside an air force base near the South Korean coastal city of Gangneung.

Although the missile did not explode, the noise and subsequent fire caused some Gangneung residents to believe the North had launched an attack, according to media reports. There were no reports of injuries.

The South Korean military acknowledged the accident hours after internet users posted videos showing an orange ball of flames emerging from an area they described as near a Gangneung air force base.

The military said it was investigating what had caused the “abnormal flight” of the South Korean missile – a key part of its preemptive and retaliatory strike strategies against the North.

The accident occurred as the South Korean and US militaries fired a volley of missiles into the East Sea – also known as the Sea of Japan – in response to North Korea firing a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years.

When it comes to North and South Korea, the North is definitely the country that is more serious about war.