North Korea test fires upgraded Artillery systems

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 ongoing 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. South Korea maintains a firm military readiness in close coordination with the USA amid boosted surveillance on North Korea.

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.

The North’s artillery tests draw less outside attention than its missile launches. But its forward-deployed long-range artillery guns could form a serious security threat to South Korea’s populous metropolitan region.

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 peace concessions.

AP / ABC Flash Point News 2022.