SEOUL, Sept 19 (Askume) – North Korea on Wednesday test-fired a new tactical ballistic missile using a super-large warhead and an improved cruise missile, KCNA reported, as leader Kim Jong Un called for strengthening conventional weapons and nuclear capabilities.
Kim Jong Un, who led the tests, said the tests were necessary to improve weapons capabilities because external forces posed a serious threat to national security.
The report comes after South Korea’s military tested several short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday , North Korea’s second missile test in a week.
Last week, North Korea also unveiled its uranium enrichment facility in its first public report .
KCNA said Kim Jong-un “stressed the need to strengthen nuclear arsenal and to possess the strongest military technological capabilities and vast offensive capabilities in the field of conventional weapons.”
KCNA said Wednesday’s test involved a new tactical ballistic Hwasongfo-11-DA-4.5 missile, indicating it was part of a series of short-range ballistic missiles being developed by KCNA.
The missile was armed with a 4.5-tonne ultra-large conventional warhead, KCNA said.
North Korea’s state media reported it tested a missile of the same name in July and it was considered partially successful. On Thursday, state media released photos of the missile striking a target in the mountains.
Two ballistic missiles fell in a mountainous area in northeastern North Korea, South Korea’s military said on Thursday.
Shin Seong-ki, head of North Korea military studies at the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul, said such a missile launch aimed at inland targets could be unprecedented.
North Korea regularly tests missiles at sea or on uninhabited islands.
Shin said the special missile, called Hwasongfo-11-Da-4.5, is still under development, but if its performance and reliability can be guaranteed through further testing, Russia hopes to acquire it as soon as possible.
“North Korea wants to shorten this time as much as possible,” he said.
Kiev officials and independent experts say there are signs that some of the missiles used by Russia in its war against Ukraine are North Korean-made, some of them made this year . Both Moscow and Pyongyang deny any illicit arms trade or shipments.
The North Korean military also tested a strategic cruise missile that has been upgraded for combat use, the Korean Central News Agency said.
North Korea has criticized ongoing military exercises by South Korean and US forces, including large-scale drills this summer, as preparation for war on the Korean Peninsula.
Allies say the drills are defensive in nature and designed to maintain preparedness for any attack by North Korea.
