July 21, 2016 13:02
North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun on Wednesday published eight photos related to the launch of three ballistic missiles on Tuesday. They show North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sitting behind a desk with a map of the Korean Peninsula draped over it showing the trajectories of Scud C and Rodong missiles and their intended targets in the East Sea along with curved lines encompassing Busan and Ulsan.
The daily said the latest launch aimed to practice preemptive nuclear strikes on South Korean ports and airports.
North Korean state TV claimed the launch was also designed to test detonators of nuclear warheads mounted on ballistic missiles "at the designated altitude over the target area."
Nuclear weapons deliver the biggest impact when detonated at a height of 30 to 120 km.
In other words, North Korea was practicing nuclear attack on Busan, where U.S. military supplies would be being brought in during a war.
A major aim was probably to stoke anxieties here over the U.S. deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery here.
Wild rumors of harmful electromagnetic waves emitted by the THAAD battery have already shaken the public, and once they were shown to be groundless the North is now trying to sow terror of other attacks and repercussions.
Some opponents of the THAAD deployment continue to claim that North Korea's nuclear weapons are just a way of getting concessions out of the U.S. or a purely defensive project. Thursday's pictures prove otherwise.
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