“Exaggerated and different from fact,” says Joint Chiefs of Staff on North Korea’s announcement of the launch of a strategic cruise missile

The Korean Central News Agency reported on August 21 that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected a naval fleet and observed the launch drill of a strategic cruise missile. Yonhap News

The Joint Chiefs of Staff described North Korea’s announcement on August 21 that they test launched a strategic cruise missile from a vessel in the East Sea as “exaggerated and different from facts in many aspects.” They also said, “South Korea and the United States detected signs prior to the event and have been monitoring the situation in real-time.”

On Monday, the Rodong Sinmun announced that Chairman Kim Jong-un inspected a naval fleet and observed the test launch of a strategic cruise missile. The official newspaper of the Workers’ Party of Korea also disclosed several pictures of the North Korean leader watching the missile launch.

Reportedly, what North Korea claimed to be a strategic cruise missile was a short-range anti-ship missile. A strategic cruise missile is loaded with a nuclear warhead, but the one launched was a general missile missing the nuclear warhead. The range of the anti-ship missile barely exceeded a three-digit distance, and the vessel from which the missile was launched appeared to be an old one that had been built quite a while ago.

The military authority detected signs of North Korea’s missile launch prior to the event and monitored the situation using surveillance equipment. They believe that the missile failed to hit its target. The Rodong Sinmun argued, “In a test launch conducted for the purpose of reconfirming the combat functions of the vessel and the features of the missile weapons system and of training naval troops in attack missions in an actual battle environment, the missile swiftly hit the target without permitting the smallest of errors.”

North Korea did not specifically state the exact date of the latest missile launch, but according to the South Korean military authority, the missile was launched sometime last week. The Joint Chiefs of Staff did not release the news to the press before North Korea’s announcement, because an anti-ship missile has a short range and because they did not see it as a serious threat.

On Monday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff also said, “Our forces will carefully conduct intense joint exercises and drills planned under a solid joint defense posture and maintain firm preparedness based on the capability for an overwhelming response to any provocation by North Korea.”

South Korea and the U.S. will conduct the joint military exercise, Ulji Freedom Shield (UFS), from Monday until August 31.