North Korea reinforces border troops with 250 ballistic missile launchers
North Korea bolsters its troops at the border with South Korea with 250 ballistic rocket launchers. According to the state-run news agency KCNA, a ceremony was held the previous day in the capital Pyongyang, chaired by leader Kim Jong Un, to hand over 250 tactical ballistic rocket launchers of a new type to military units at the border.
The rocket launchers are a "modern tactical attack weapon" and a "powerful, valuable sword" for defending North Korea's sovereignty, Kim said at the ceremony, adding that he had personally designed them. The presentation of the new weapons at a time when North Korea is grappling with severe flooding is an "expression of our party's firm will to advance the strengthening of defense capabilities."
According to South Korean expert Han Kwon Hee of the Korean Association for Defense Industry Studies, this is the first time North Korea has publicly disclosed the scale of a weapons transfer to its border troops. Each launcher can carry four rockets, Han told the AFP news agency.
Relations between North and South Korea are currently at a low point. Kim Jong Un has declared South Korea the "main enemy" of Pyongyang and announced plans to expand weapons development, including tactical nuclear weapons. North Korea has also threatened to fight for every "0.001 millimeter" of disputed territory. In response, South Korea and the United States have strengthened their defense cooperation.
The newly acquired ballistic rocket launchers serve as a crucial element in North Korea's defensive strategy to safeguard its sovereignty. Kim Jong Un emphasized their importance as a "powerful, valuable sword" during the ceremony.
