North Korea deploys 250 nuclear-capable missile launchers near South Korea

In a move that is sure to turn up the heat in Asia, North Korea has announced the deployment of 250 new ballistic missile launchers on its southern border.

According to North Korea, the launchers can be used to carry out nuclear strikes on South Korea and the United States military bases, which are present in the country.

The country’s official media outlet , Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), describes the launchers as modern tactical attack weapons personally designed by its leader, Kim Jong Un.

Kim oversaw the delivery of the 250 ballistic missile launchers to the front-line troops of the Army at an event held on Sunday.

The new missile launchers

The new missile launchers handed over to the front-line troops by Kim are going to be deployed soon at the borders.

Images released by KCNA show Kim participating in the ceremony and lines of mobile launchers placed in front of the stage.

The North Korean leader has said that the changes in global security situations pushed it to go ahead with the deployment of the ballistic missile launchers.

“The rapidly changing global security environment and the indiscriminate expansion of US-led military blocs lead us to the conclusion that we need to more thoroughly and fully have our national nuclear capabilities and nuclear posture ready,” Kim said according to a report by the KCNA .

According to a report by Bloomberg , the launchers seem to be capable of holding four missiles each. The missiles that can be launched by these are likely going to be Hwasong 11D.

Hwasong 11D is a short-range ballistic missile, according to the results of the previous test fires it can approximately hit targets at 62 mile (100 km) to 186 mile (300 km).

However, the Bloomberg report clarifies that it is not yet known whether North Korea has 1000 missiles in stock that can be used for the launchers.

Threats and missile testing by North Korea

The recent deployment of missile launchers is going to threaten the defense capability of the South Korean armed forces, according to experts .

This is also a fresh move from North Korea after it stopped the repeated launches of trash-carrying balloons which caused problems in its neighboring country.

Kim also announced in the event on Sunday that he was willing to push harder on developing more nuclear warheads as it was the only way to stop the country’s enemies from growing bigger as a threat.

North Korea has also been developing and testing other ballistic missiles and other critical technologies in the recent past. The country had recently claimed the successful testing of a new tactical ballistic missile with a ‘superlage warhead,’ according to a report by Al Jazeera .

While the country had claimed that the test was a success, South Korea had shared its doubts over the test being conducted smoothly.

However, Kim’s administration has been routinely conducting missile tests and seems to be sure of developing its weapon’s arsenal. In recent days, it has also come out in the open to meet with Russia and reveal the side it favors in the ongoing war in Ukraine.