Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, announced on Saturday that her country had launched an intermediate-range strategic missile during a firing exercise carried out in the early hours of the morning towards the East Sea of Korea.
Kim Yo Jong identifies the weapon used
In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s official news agency, Kim Yo Jong said: “At dawn this morning, a strategic weapons firing exercise was conducted towards the East Sea of Korea.” She added that an “intermediate-range strategic missile” was used during the exercise. Kim Yo Jong is the sister of Kim Jong Un and was described in the statement as Pyongyang’s second-most powerful figure.
Her statement identified the type of weapon used and the direction of its launch during the exercise conducted by North Korean forces earlier on Saturday. The official news agency reported that Kim Jong Un personally supervised the exercise. It said the launch was carried out by a sub-unit of the firepower force as part of the announced training in the use of the intermediate-range strategic weapon.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, meanwhile, said it had detected North Korea launching a ballistic missile towards the East Sea early on Saturday morning. The JCS identified the coastal area of Wonsan in eastern North Korea as the missile’s launch site, while Pyongyang described the operation as a strategic weapons firing exercise.
