Anchor: North Korea test-fired hypersonic missiles on Sunday, just hours before South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s visit to China. Some analysts say the missile drill was staged in protest of the South Korea-China summit. However, it also coincided with the United States’ capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, raising questions about the regime’s intentions.
Rosyn Park has this report.

Report: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw Sunday’s test launch of hypersonic ballistic missiles, the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said on Monday.

Kim said the drill confirmed that “a very important technology task for national defense” had been carried out.

He was also quoted as saying the aim of such activities is “gradually putting the nuclear war deterrent on a highly developed basis,” adding that the need for this is clear from “the recent geopolitical crisis and various international circumstances.” 

In its first provocation of the year, North Korea fired several missiles from Pyongyang around 7:50 a.m. Sunday, hitting targets about one-thousand kilometers away in the East Sea, according to the KCNA.

The drill was conducted the same day President Lee departed for China for a summit with President Xi Jinping, where the North Korea denuclearization issue was to be discussed.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said the North’s latest weapons test can be seen as a message to South Korea and China that denuclearization will not happen.

It has also been noted that since the launches were carried out immediately after the U.S. operation to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, North Korea may have also been sending a warning to Washington that it has the ability to strike the United States.

North Korea’s foreign ministry has criticized the U.S. for violating Venezuela’s sovereignty.

Meanwhile, South Korea has urged North Korea to stop its provocative acts.
Rosyn Park, KBS World Radio News.