North Korea's Kim oversees delivery of new tactical ballistic missile launchers

A view of a ceremonial event to mark the delivery of new tactical ballistic missiles to North Korean troops at an undisclosed location in North Korea, August 4, 2024 in this photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS

SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the delivery of 250 new tactical ballistic missile launchers to front-line troops, state media KCNA reported on Monday, which Seoul said could be used to threaten South Korea.

The launchers have been described by state media as a modern tactical attack weapon personally designed by Kim and ready to be transferred to Korean People's Army units on the border with the South.

North Korea said it test-fired a new tactical ballistic missile last month.

"We believe (the missile launchers) are intended to be used in various ways, such to attack or threaten South Korea," Lee Sung-joon, spokesperson for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a media briefing, noting deployment near the border would mean the range was not long.

Photographs released by KCNA showed rows of launchers lined up besides red banners that called for victory under floodlights at the event held at night and attended by Kim.

In a speech, Kim blamed the United States for creating a "nuclear-based military block" that forced his country to further strengthen military capabilities.

A spokesperson for Seoul's unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs said North Korea's illegal nuclear and missile programmes were the primary threat to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.

Cha Du Hyeogn, a principal research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said that Pyongyang wanted to show it had the capacity to strike its neighbour.

"South Korea talks of the U.S. extended nuclear deterrence commitment or its three-pronged deterrence system and North Korea is showing it seeks to have the ability to attack that cannot be managed by such (systems)," said Cha.

The North's increasingly strident rhetoric was also likely aimed at the U.S. presidential election, Cha said, potentially preparing the ground for negotiations if former U.S. President Donald Trump wins.

Kim and Trump held a number of unprecedented meetings before a summit in Vietnam in 2019 collapsed over sanctions.

Koh Yu-hwan, an emeritus professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University, said while Pyongyang had ramped up the rhetoric it had fallen short of strategic provocations.

"South Korea and the U.S. are set to hold a major military exercise in August...(North Korea) is making these remarks as a response to such military exercises," Koh said.

Seoul and Washington hold their joint annual military exercises in August known as the Ulchi Freedom Shield.

North Korea has long condemned joint drills between the United States and South Korea as a rehearsal for invasion.

Pyongyang will have enhanced nuclear readiness in the near future to deter nuclear threats and protect itself, Kim was quoted as saying in the speech to troops and military scientists.

Kim's daughter, Kim Ju Ae, attended the event, KCNA photos showed, making her first public appearance in nearly three months. South Korean lawmakers said last month she was being trained to become the next leader.

North Korea's state media has reported on her public activities, but not on her political future.