North Korea Fires Several Cruise Missiles From East Coast, Alleges Seoul

Seoul [South Korea] : North Korea fired several cruise missiles from its east coast on Sunday, days after Pyongyang test-fired new strategic cruise missiles from the west coast, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the South Korean military.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said North Korea’s launch took place around 8 am (local time) in waters off Shinpo Port but did not elaborate further, citing an ‘ongoing analysis’.

‘While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance, our military has been closely coordinating with the United States to monitor additional signs of North Korea’s provocations,’ the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.

It marks Pyongyang’s second cruise missile launch this year after it test-fired strategic cruise missiles, named Pulhwasal-3-31, towards the Yellow Sea on January 24.

Yonhap news agency reported, citing experts, that the Pulhwasal-3-31 appears to be a nuclear-capable cruise missile, considering that the number in its name is identical to that of the Hwasan-31, a tactical nuclear warhead that North Korea first unveiled in March 2023.

North Korea first test-fired the Hawsal-1 cruise missile in September 2021 and launched several Hawsal-1 and Hawsal-2 cruise missiles presumed to be capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons last year.

In the Korean language, Hwasal means an ‘arrow’ and Pulhwasal means a ‘fire arrow’.

Cruise missiles fly low and manoeuvre, making them better at evading missile defences.
The launch of a cruise missile is not a direct violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions banning the North’s use of ballistic missile technology. But it could pose a serious threat to South Korea’s security as nuclear warheads can be mounted on such missiles.

North Korea has dialled up tensions on the Korean Peninsula with weapons tests and harsh rhetoric in an election year for South Korea and the United States, according to Yonhap news agency.

It launched a solid-fuel hypersonic missile into the East Sea on January 14 in its first missile firing this year.

Pyongyang also claimed it had tested an underwater nuclear attack drone in protest of the latest joint military drills among South Korea, the US and Japan earlier this month.