North Korea demonstrated long range cruise missile strike capabilities on March 22, launching two “Hwasal-1 strategic cruise missiles” and two “Hwasal-2 strategic cruise missiles” from South Hamgyong Province which accurately hit a target in the Sea of Japan – known in Korea as the East Sea. The tests come as Pyongyang complains of repeated provocations from the United States, which is leading major military exercises in South Korea simulating attacks on the north, and are the latest of multiple major shows of force this month. The state run Korean Central News Agency stated accordingly: “The reckless and dangerous nature of the confrontational hysteria recently betrayed by the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet regime of traitors is unprecedented in history,” referring to domestic efforts to “bolster up its nuclear war deterrence for self-defence in order to strengthen the country’s defence posture in every way and promptly counter and thoroughly control and manage any nuclear war threats and challenges by the enemy” in response.
While North Korea’s deterrence capacities long rested on its ballistic missile arsenal, which began to be fielded in the late 1970s and has expanded very significantly since, complementary cruise missile capabilities began to appear from the late 2010s demonstrating sophisticated features including the ability to conduct complex waypoint manoeuvres. These can fulfil a wide range of roles including nuclear strikes, precision strikes on key facilities such as airbases, and antishipping roles. The country demonstrated its first submarine launched cruise missile capability earlier in March, and has also integrated advanced platforms such as the Kumsong-3 cruise missile onto its surface warships. Air launched variants of the Kumsong-3 are also reported but not confirmed to have been integrated onto the country’s H-5 bomber fleet. The Hwasal series are expected to expand nuclear delivery options against U.S. Military facilities in Japan in particular, as well as near the southern coast of South Korea.