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North Korea Tests New Air-Defense Missiles After Border Warning Shots

Pyongyang is pressing its protest of US–South Korea exercises with a fresh weapons display.

A combination image released by KCNA on August 23 says to show firing tests of anti-aircraft missiles and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un flanked by Korean People's Army officers, at an unknown location. KCNA via REUTERS
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Overview

  • South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said troops fired warning shots on Aug. 19 after North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the Military Demarcation Line in a central DMZ sector before retreating without returning fire.
  • The U.N. Command put the number of North Korean personnel who crossed the line at about 30, according to reporting cited by Japanese media.
  • North Korean Lt. Gen. Ko Jong-chol accused the South of firing more than 10 rounds from a 12.7 mm machine gun and warned of a “corresponding countermeasure,” saying the North had notified U.S. forces of its barrier work on June 25 and July 18.
  • KCNA said Kim Jong-un supervised the test-firing of two newly improved air-defense missiles on Saturday, which the North claims showed “superior combat capability,” particularly against drones and cruise missiles.
  • The developments coincide with the Ulchi Freedom Shield drills that began Aug. 18, which Seoul and Washington describe as defensive and which Pyongyang denounces as a provocation.