Pyongyang says its military has trialed a new ballistic missile that is capable of carrying a 4.5-metric-ton warhead. It was also said to have tested a “strategic” cruise missile.
North Korea said on Thursday that its leader, Kim Jong Un, had supervised the testing of two different missiles, including one that would carry a “super-large conventional warhead.”
The other missile tested was referred to as a “strategic” cruise missile, indicating that it could have been testing nuclear capacity.
What North Korea said about the tests
Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KNCA) said Kim had overseen the launch of the country’s a newly built Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5 ballistic missile.
The weapon was said to be tipped with a dummy “4.5-ton super-large conventional warhead.”
KCNA said the test-firing was meant to test the ability to hit a target 320 kilometers (200 miles) away, suggesting South Korean assets were the hypothetical subjects of the operation.
The news agency also said Kim had guided the launch of an improved “strategic” cruise missile — implying the missile had been to carry a nuclear warhead.
Pyongyang has previously tested the missile to verify the flight stability and accuracy of a weapon carrying such a high payload.
The tests appear to be the same ones that several neighboring countries said North Korea had carried out on Wednesday, only the latest in a series of weapons displays..
Kim was said to have stressed the need to continue to “bolster up the nuclear force” and acquire “overwhelming offensive capability in the field of conventional weapons,” as well as nuclear ones, according to KCNA.
KCNA cited Kim as saying that North Korea needed strong military power to thwart its enemies’ intentions.
Significance of land targets
The South Korean military said that both ballistic and cruise missiles fired by North Korea appeared to have landed in the North’s mountainous northeastern region.
While North Korea typically test-fires missiles off its east coast, it is highly unusual for the country to fire missiles at land targets — possibly due to concerns about potential damages on the ground should missiles stray into unintended areas.
The head of the Korea Defense Study Forum think tank in Seoul, Jung Chang Wook, told the Associated Press news agency that the test may show North Korea is increasingly confident about the accuracy of its new ballistic missile.
The Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5 missile’s first known test was in early July. North Korea said this had been successful, although South Korea’s military disputed the claim, saying two of missiles traveled abnormally during the initial stage of their flights.
