North Korea has test-fired a new type of tactical guided weapon designed to boost its nuclear fighting capability, state media reported Sunday, days after it passed its biggest state anniversary without an expected military parade, which it typically uses to unveil provocative weapons systems.
The test, the 13th round of weapons launches by Pyongyang this year, came amid concerns that North Korea may soon conduct a larger provocation like a nuclear test in an effort to expand the country’s weapons arsenal and increase pressure on its rivals amid stalled diplomacy.
The official Korean Central News Agency said leader Kim Jong Un and other top officials observed the launch. It said the weapon tested has “great significance in drastically improving the firepower of the frontline long-range artillery units, enhancing the efficiency in the operation of (North Korea’s) tactical nukes of and diversification of their firepower missions.”
KCNA didn’t elaborate, but the mention of the word “tactical nukes” suggested the weapon is likely capable of carrying a battlefield nuclear warhead that could hit strategic targets in South Korea, including U.S. military installations. The KCNA dispatch didn’t say when and where the launch occurred.
Photos carried by the Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed a grinning Kim – surrounded by uniformed officials – applauding as he watched what it said was the test firing of the weapon.
South Korea’s military confirmed the weapons launch, saying early on Sunday that it had detected two projectiles launched from the North’s east coast towards the Sea of Japan late on Saturday.
The projectiles flew about 110 kilometres with an apogee of 25km and a maximum speed of under Mach 4, it said.
Immediately after the launch, South Korea's military, intelligence agencies and National Security Office held an emergency meeting to assess the situation and discuss countermeasures, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff statement.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in is receiving real-time reports from the National Security Office, and has ordered the relevant government ministries to inspect North Korea's movements, Moon's spokeswoman Park Kyung-mee said in a statement Sunday.
North Korea has increased its missile tests this year, including its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in more than four years on March 24, in defiance of international law.
In just the first four months of 2022, the North has conducted 12 tests; by comparison, it only conducted four tests in 2020, and eight in 2021.
The ICBM was reported to be its most formidable yet -- though missile experts and a South Korean military official later said it may have been a less advanced weapon than previously believed.
The US has said it is open to talks with North Korea at any time and without conditions, but Pyongyang has so far rebuffed those overtures, accusing Washington of maintaining hostile policies such as sanctions and military drills.
The KCNA report on a new weapons test also came shortly after North Korea celebrated the 110th anniversary of the birth of late founder Kim Il Sung, one of the biggest annual public holidays in the country, but without a military parade.
South Korean officials have said Pyongyang could still stage a military parade or carry out a weapons test on or around April 25, the anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army.
