Kim Jong Un Oversees Cruise-Missile Drill as Peninsula Tensions Spike

Pyongyang's Midnight Salvo

At 3:17 a.m. local time Wednesday, North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency released a single photograph: Kim Jong Un, coat collar turned up against the winter wind, watching a plume of orange fire tear across a darkened coastal sky. Within minutes, Seoul’s defense ministry confirmed the launch of multiple cruise missiles from the eastern port of Kimchaek—Pyongyang’s second such test in five days and the first personally supervised by Kim since early October.

What We Know

• At least four missiles flew roughly 1,500 km (930 mi) before splashing into the Sea of Japan, according to South Korean and Japanese trackers.
• The projectiles appeared to be of the Hwasal-2 class, a nuclear-capable cruise model first unveiled in 2021.
• State media claimed the drill “reconfirmed the accuracy” of a new “automated launch process” and was aimed at “boosting combat readiness.”

Why It Matters

Unlike ballistic missiles, cruise missiles fly low and slow, skirting radar and complicating interception. Under U.N. sanctions, Pyongyang is barred from ballistic technology, but cruise systems occupy a gray zone—an ambiguity Kim appears eager to exploit. Wednesday’s test comes days after Washington and Seoul wrapped their largest joint air exercise in five years and as the USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group operates nearby.

“Every time we squeeze, they slip sideways,” a senior U.S. Indo-Pacific Command official told reporters on condition of anonymity. “Cruise missiles are the perfect hedge—technically legal, tactically lethal.”

Regional Ripples

Japan lodged an “extremely strong protest,” while South Korea’s National Security Council convened an emergency session. President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered the military to “maintain overwhelming response capabilities,” a signal that Seoul may accelerate its own cruise-missile deployment and expand trilateral drills with Tokyo and Washington.

Inside the Hermit Kingdom

KCNA framed the launch as part of a winter training cycle, but analysts see a messaging strategy. “Kim is reminding the world that his arsenal doesn’t hibernate,” says Jenny Town of the Washington-based Stimson Center. “He times these provocations to coincide with U.S. political transitions or major exercises, betting the external appetite for escalation is low.”

What Happens Next

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke by phone with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, pledging “a coordinated, decisive response.” Yet diplomats admit room for maneuver is shrinking. Talks have stalled since 2019; Pyongyang has rebuffed offers of COVID-19 vaccines and food aid, doubling down instead on weapons modernisation.

Meanwhile, residents of Seoul—barely 50 km from the North Korean border—went about their morning commute. “We wake up, we check the news, we ride the subway,” said Park Min-jun, 28. “The missiles keep flying, and somehow life keeps moving.”