North Korea says missile launches were part of live-fire drills

On Saturday, North Korea conducted a series of missile launches that were later declared by state media KCNA to be part of a live-fire drill involving multiple army units. The drill, dubbed a "joint firepower attack drill," tested various weapon systems, including long-range artillery, attack drones, tactical cruise missiles, tactical ballistic missiles, and large-calibre multiple rocket launchers.

According to KCNA, the drill aimed to boost troop morale and enhance their capability to "completely collapse the enemy" when ordered.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that North Korea had fired several short-range ballistic missiles, which traveled approximately 250 km (155 miles) towards the sea off its eastern coast. This missile launch occurred just a day after South Korea, the United States, and Japan completed a five-day trilateral military exercise known as the Freedom Edge, which focused on countering potential threats from North Korea.

KCNA's announcement of the missile launches came two days after the event, which has been identified as the 13th known ballistic missile launch by North Korea this year. North Korean state media had been silent on several previous missile tests reported by South Korea. Analysts believe that this particular launch was not a mere test of a single weapon system, but rather a demonstration of an integrated strike network, showcasing North Korea's ability to coordinate drones, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and rocket artillery through a unified command-and-control system.

Notably, the absence of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the delayed report from KCNA suggested that Pyongyang sought to present the event as a technical and practical military exercise, while simultaneously calibrating tensions. Analyst Lim Eul-chul from Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul posited that the drill was designed to collect operational data for potential deployment and demonstrate tactics intended to saturate South Korean and U.S. missile defenses through simultaneous attacks using weapons with diverse flight characteristics.