Seoul: North Korea fires suspected artillery pieces into sea

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea test-fired suspected artillery pieces into the sea on Sunday, South Korea’s military said, days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for greater defense capability to cope with outside threats.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it detected several flight trajectories believed to be North Korean artillery on Sunday morning. It said South Korea maintains a firm military readiness in close coordination with the United States amid boosted surveillance on North Korea.

During a national security council meeting convened to discuss the suspected launches, South Korean officials expressed concern that North Korea is upgrading weapons systems that pose a direct threat to South Korea and reaffirmed they would sternly deal with such North Korean efforts, according to South Korea’s presidential office.

The North’s artillery tests draw less outside attention than its missile launches. But its forward-deployed long-range artillery guns are a serious security threat to South Korea’s populous metropolitan region, which is only 40-50 kilometers (25-30 miles) from the border with North Korea.

The suspected artillery launches were the latest in a spate of weapons tests by North Korea this year in what foreign experts call an attempt to pressure its rivals Washington and Seoul to relax international sanctions against Pyongyang and make other concessions.

South Korean and U.S. officials recently said North Korea had almost completed preparations for its first nuclear test in about five years. In March, North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland U.S. in breach of a 2018 moratorium on big missile tests.

In a speech at a ruling party meeting last week, Kim underscored the need to strengthen his country’s military capability, saying the current security environment is “very serious.”

Kim’s speech carried by state media didn’t mention the United States or South Korea. But he still set forth “militant tasks” to be pursued by his armed forces and scientists, a suggestion that he would press ahead with his high-profile arms buildup plans.

A possible new nuclear test by North Korea would be the seventh of its kind. Some experts say North Korea will likely use the test to build warheads to be mounted on tactical nuclear weapons aimed at hitting targets in South Korea.

韩国首尔——韩国军方称，朝鲜周日向海中试射了疑似火炮。几天前，朝鲜领导人金正恩呼吁加强国防能力以应对外部威胁。

韩国联合参谋本部发表声明称，周日上午探测到数条疑似朝鲜炮兵的飞行轨迹。声明指出，韩国在加强对朝鲜的监视的同时，与美国密切协调，保持高度戒备状态。

据韩国总统府消息，在一次为讨论疑似朝鲜导弹发射事件而召开的国家安全委员会会议上，韩国官员表示担忧，认为朝鲜正在升级对韩国构成直接威胁的武器系统，并重申将严厉应对朝鲜的此类行为。

朝鲜的火炮试验不如其导弹发射那样引人注目。但其前沿部署的远程火炮对韩国人口稠密的首都圈构成了严重的安全威胁，该地区距离朝鲜边境仅40-50公里（25-30英里）。

此次疑似炮击是朝鲜今年一系列武器试验中的最新一次，外国专家称此举意在向其对手华盛顿和首尔施压，迫使其放松对平壤的国际制裁并做出其他让步。

韩国和美国官员近日表示，朝鲜已基本完成近五年来首次核试验的准备工作。今年3月，朝鲜试射了一枚能够打到美国本土的洲际弹道导弹，违反了2018年达成的暂停大型导弹试验的协议。

在上周的执政党会议上，金正恩发表讲话，强调了加强朝鲜军事能力的必要性，称当前的安全形势“非常严峻”。

金正恩通过朝鲜官方媒体发表的讲话中没有提及美国或韩国。但他仍然提出了军队和科学家需要完成的“战斗任务”，这表明他将继续推进其备受瞩目的军备建设计划。

朝鲜若再次进行核试验，这将是其第七次核试验。一些专家认为，朝鲜很可能利用此次试验制造核弹头，用于研制打击韩国目标的战术核武器。