Kim Jong-un supervised a first simulation of a “nuclear counterattack”

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised the first military simulation exercise of “nuclear trigger” of the country, in response to joint air exercises between the United States and South Korea, reported the North Korean state agency KCNA on Tuesday April 23. The exercises made it possible to test for the first time this combined control system for the country’s nuclear weapons.

The exercise took place on Monday, according to the agency. The South Korean military announced that day that the North had fired a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles, which Japan confirmed. According to Seoul, the missiles were launched from the Pyongyang region and landed in the waters east of the Korean peninsula.

Kim Jong Un “led a combined tactical exercise simulating a nuclear counterattack involving very large multiple rocket launchers”, KCNA said. According to the agency, the projectiles “equipped with simulated nuclear warheads” reached their target, located 352 km from the launch point. The leader expressed “his great satisfaction with the result of the exercise”, added the agency. The exercise made it possible to examine “the reliability of the command, management, control and operation system of the entire nuclear force” detailed KCNA.