North Korea has deployed 250 ballistic missile launchers on its southern border, AFP reported. Leader Kin Jong Un described the weapons as a "powerful sword" to protect his sovereignty, state media reported.
The olive-green mobile launchers were displayed during a special "handover" ceremony in the capital Pyongyang on August 4, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announced.
"Missile launchers are a modern tactical offensive weapon," Kim said in his speech.
It is the first time North Korea has disclosed the scale of arms transfers to its border units, said Han Kwon-hee of the Korea Defense Industry Research Association.
"Each installation is designed for four missiles," Khan said.
He added that "Pyongyang's delivery of weapons to Moscow may have hampered the North's capacity to produce 1,000 missiles."
Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with the North increasing weapons tests and bombing the South with balloons filled with garbage.
In response, South Korea resumed propaganda broadcasts along the border, suspended a military de-escalation agreement and resumed live-fire drills near the border.
This year, Pyongyang has declared South Korea its "arch-enemy," kicked out agencies dedicated to unification and working with the people, and threatened war over "even 0.001 mm" of territorial infringement.
Kim noted that the unveiling of the new weapons at a time when the country is recovering from flood damage is "a manifestation of our party's firm will to continue strengthening defence capabilities."
At the end of July, the northern regions of the nuclear country were affected by heavy rains. A South Korean media report claimed that up to 1,500 people may have died.
Kim lashed out at the reports. He dismissed them as "a smear campaign aimed at shaming us and damaging the image of the North".
The North said there were no casualties in the Sinuiju area, which Pyongyang says suffered "the most damage from the floods".
He claimed that the North Korean Air Force rescued more than 5,000 people, with about 4,200 of them rescued by helicopter within a few hours. | BGNES
