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North Koreans in rural Kaepung, in Hwanghae Province, can be seen working in fields from the Ganghwa Peace Observatory in South Korea’s Incheon area on Feb. 20, when the North fired two rounds from its “super-large” multiple rocket system.

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its eastern coast on Monday in a gesture of protest against South Korea-US joint aerial exercises Sunday, which included a B-1B strategic bomber belonging to the US.

It was part of a series of tailored shows of force — targeting South Korea two days after a high-angle launch of the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Saturday targeted the US.

For a second straight day, Kim Yo-jong, a high-ranking member of the Workers Party of Korea and sister of Kim Jong-un, issued a statement on the launch.

“The frequency of using the Pacific as our firing range depends upon the US forces' action character,” she wrote.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula now appear poised to continue through the joint military exercises planned by South Korea and the US for March.

In a report on Monday, the Korean Central News Agency (KNCA) wrote that “relevant multiple launch rocket firepower sub-units of the KPA long-range artillery unit on the western front set virtual targets 395 km and 337 km away from the launching points respectively and fired two shells of 600 mm multiple rocket launchers towards the East Sea on the morning of Feb. 20 [at 7 am].”

It described the 600mm multiple rocket launchers as “the latest type of multiple launch precision attack weapon system of the KPA” and “a tactical nuclear attack means boasting of the great might powerful enough to assign only one multiple rocket launcher with four shells so as to destroy an enemy operational airfield.”

The 600mm multiple rocket launcher — which the North describes as a “super-large” multiple rocket launcher — is categorized by South Korean and US military officials as a short-range ballistic missile. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected two short-range ballistic missiles launched by North Korea toward the West Sea from the area around Sukchon in South Pyongan Province between 7:00 and 7:11 am on Monday.

The North said its firing of “super-large multiple rocket launchers” that day was intended as a response to joint South Korea-US aerial exercises the day before and targeted South Korean Air Force bases.

“The US and the south Korean puppet forces staged another combined air drill with ten-odd war planes including B-1B strategic bomber and F-35 stealth fighter on February 19,” the KCNA report said.

It also claimed that “the power of four multiple rocket launcher shells can reduce to ashes the enemy's operational airfield to paralyze its function.”

If the firing range stated by North Korea is accurate, it would extend to South Korean and US Air Force bases in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province; Osan, Gyeonggi Province; and Gunsan, North Jeolla Province — the sites where both sides’ fighter aircraft took office to participate in the joint aerial exercises the day before.

On the closing day of the sixth plenary session of the 8th WPK Central Committee from Dec. 26 to 31, 2022, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivered a speech for a ceremony for the donation of 30 “600mm super-large multiple launch rocket systems.”

In it, he referred to the super-large multiple rocket launches as a “core, offensive weapon of our armed forces” that had “south Korea as a whole within the range of strike” and was “capable of carrying tactical nuclear warhead.”

The North further warned of more shows of force to come amid South Korea and the US’ plans to hold a Deterrence Strategy Committee table-top exercise in the US on Wednesday and Thursday, and their 2023 Freedom Shield joint exercises beginning in mid-March.

In a statement published Monday by the KCNA, Kim Yo-jong wrote that Pyongyang was “well aware of the movement of US forces’ strategic strike means recently getting brisk around the Korean Peninsula.”

“We are carefully examining the influence it would exert on the security of our state, and we are going to make it an established fact, once again on this occasion, that we will take corresponding counteraction if it is judged to be any direct or indirect threat,” she continued.

“The frequency of using the Pacific as our firing range depends upon the US forces' action character,” she said.

Analysts read the message as a reiteration of the warning of additional ballistic missile launches she had made in another statement the day before, where she warned that the North would “take corresponding and very powerful and overwhelming counteraction against [the enemy’s] every move hostile to us.”

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer; Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

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