North orders intensified readiness near the NLL after ‘new’ cruise missile test

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised the test-firing of a new surface-to-sea missile, its state media reported Thursday, and ordered a strengthened defense posture around islands near the western maritime border.

Pyongyang launched the “new-type” missile, Padasuri-6, on Wednesday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. The missile reportedly hit a target boat after flying over waters in the East Sea for around 1,400 seconds.

This came after the South Korean military said Wednesday the North fired several cruise missiles off the eastern port city of Wonsan, marking North Korea’s fifth cruise missile launch this year.

Kim referred to the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto inter-Korean maritime border in the Yellow Sea, as “a ghost one without any ground in the light of international law or legal justification.” The North doesn’t recognize the NLL.

“When the enemy intrudes into the maritime border recognized by us, we will regard it as an encroachment upon the sovereignty of the DPRK and an armed provocation against it,” the KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

He added that “it is not important how many lines exist” in the Yellow Sea.

Last month, Kim, in a speech at the 10th session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly, said that the “illegal Northern Limit Line” and other boundaries “can never be tolerated,” and if South Korea “violates even 0.001 millimeters of our territorial land, air and waters, it will be considered a war provocation.”

The waters near the NLL have been areas of naval tensions in the past, including the North Korean sinking of a South Korean warship in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 sailors in March 2010.

The latest missile launch came two days before the 82nd birthday anniversary of the late leader Kim Jong-il, father of Kim Jong-un.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) underscored its intent to protect the NLL, adding that the military knows of North Korea’s anti-ship missiles and is “thoroughly prepared to detect and intercept” them.

“The NLL remains our military’s unchanged maritime border,” Lee Seong-joon, a JCS spokesman, said in a briefing Thursday on Kim’s remarks. “We will firmly respond to any provocations while maintaining firm readiness.

When asked about the latest Padasuri-6 revealed by the North, Lee said that Seoul and Washington are “continuously tracking North Korea’s weapons development trends and are conducting a comprehensive analysis.”

Regarding the possibility of North Korea holding a military parade marking Kim Jong-il’s birthday on Friday, Lee said, “No signs of a military parade have been confirmed, but I believe that there will be some other celebratory events.”

According to military analysts, the North’s latest ground-to-ship missile appears to be a variant of Russia’s Kh-35 Uran cruise missiles.

In a separate KCNA report Thursday, North Korean leader Kim was spotted visiting a key munitions factory to give field guidance, ordering officials to push ahead with modernization and expand production capacity.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]