North Korea Launches Cruise Missiles Over Eastern Coast, Escalating Tensions

In a recent development, South Korea’s military reported that North Korea has fired several cruise missiles over waters near a major military shipyard on the country’s eastern coast. This action extends a series of weapons tests that are exacerbating tensions with the United States, South Korea, and Japan. The latest launches follow a separate round of North Korean cruise missile tests last week and a test-firing of the country’s first solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile on January 14th. These tests demonstrate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s efforts to expand his arsenal of weapons, designed to overwhelm missile defenses in South Korea, Japan, and remote U.S. targets in the Pacific, including Guam.

Growing Tensions

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff detected the missiles over waters near the North Korean port of Sinpo, where the North has a major shipyard building key naval vessels, including missile-firing submarines. The South’s military did not immediately provide specific launch details, including the number of missiles fired, their range, and whether they were launched from land or naval assets. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have increased in recent months as Kim accelerates his weapons development and issues provocative threats of nuclear conflict with the U.S. and its Asian allies. In response, the U.S., South Korea, and Japan have been expanding their combined military exercises and sharpening their deterrence strategies built around nuclear-capable U.S. assets.

Missile Capabilities and Strategic Implications

North Korea said its recent launches involved a new cruise missile called Pulhwasal-3-31 and described the test as part of regular efforts to develop its military. The North described that missile as “strategic,” implying a possible intent to arm it with nuclear weapons. North Korea’s cruise missiles add to the country’s extensive arsenal of ballistic missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to reach the U.S. mainland. While North Korean cruise missile activities aren’t directly banned under U.N. sanctions, experts highlight that these weapons potentially pose a serious threat to South Korea and Japan. They are designed to fly like small airplanes and travel along landscapes where they could be harder to detect by radar.

Ongoing Tests and Intentions

Since 2021, North Korea has conducted at least 10 rounds of tests of what it described as long-range cruise missiles, fired from both land and sea. The country claims its weapons are nuclear-capable, with a range of up to 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles), a distance that would include U.S. military bases in Japan. These developments underscore the growing concerns about North Korea's military capabilities and intentions, fueling further unease among its neighboring countries and the United States.