North Korea has test-fired a new type of tactical guided weapon meant to boost its nuclear war capabilities, state media claimed Sunday, a day before its greatest foes the United States and South Korea begin annual military drills that the North regards as an invasion rehearsal.
The test, the 13th round of weapons launches by Pyongyang this year, comes amid concerns that North Korea may soon execute a bolder provocation like a nuclear test in an effort to strengthen the country’s weapons stockpile and boost pressure on Washington and Seoul amid stalled diplomacy.
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The official Korean Central News Agency said leader Kim Jong watched what it labeled the weapon’s successful launch. It tweeted a photo depicting a smiling Kim clapping his hands with military officers.
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KCNA reported the weapon tested had “great significance in greatly boosting the firepower of the frontline long-range artillery units, enhancing the efficacy in the operation of (North Korea’s) tactical nukes and diversification of their firepower missions.”
KCNA didn’t specify, but the usage of the phrases “tactical nukes” meant the weapon is likely capable of carrying a battlefield nuclear warhead that could hit vital targets in South Korea, including U.S. military bases. The KCNA broadcast didn’t identify when and where the launch occurred.
“North Korea is attempting to deploy not only long-range nuclear missiles aimed at American cities but also tactical nuclear weapons to threaten Seoul and U.S. installations in Asia,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “Pyongyang’s ambitions extend exceed deterrence and regime survival. Like Russia employs the fear it may deploy tactical nukes, North Korea may covet such weapons for political coercion, military escalation and constraining the willingness of other states to participate in a controversy
Some experts said the weapon showcased in North Korean images showed it might be a smaller, lighter variant of its nuclear-capable KN-23 missile that had a very agile flight intended at defeating missile defense systems. Others thought it could be a new missile that combines the technological capabilities of the KN-23 and another short-range ballistic missile called the KN-24.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement Sunday that it had detected two missile launches from the North’s eastern coastline town of Hamhung early Saturday evening.
It reported the missiles flew around 110 kilometers (68 miles) at an apogee of 25 kilometers (16 miles) and at a maximum speed of Mach 4. South Korea’s presidential office said officials have met twice this weekend to assess the North Korean military actions.
South Korea’s military confirmed later Sunday that its nine-day springtime military drills with the United States will commence on Monday. It added the allies agreed to execute computer-simulated command post exercises that don’t require field training after examining factors like the COVID-19 pandemic and the allies’ overall military readiness.
The exercises could further heighten animosities on the Korean Peninsula because North Korea has historically responded with its own missile testing and inflammatory rhetoric.
With a flurry of weapons tests, North Korea has kicked out the year, including its first flight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the United States heartland since 2017. According to South Korean and U.S. sources, Pyongyang is preparing to carry out additional provocations, such as another intercontinental ballistic missile test, a rocket launch to place a spy satellite into orbit, or a nuclear test explosion, which would be the seventh of its kind. Several signals have been identified by the South Korean military, which suggests that North Korea is re-building tunnels at a nuclear testing site that it partially demolished only weeks before it entered into now-dormant nuclear talks with the United States in 2018.
According to Cheong Seong-Chang, a South Korean nuclear analyst at the private Sejong Institute, a North Korean nuclear test could involve a tactical nuclear weapon, which would be a first for the country. He warned that tactical nuclear warheads will be installed on the weapon North Korea tested this weekend, and that such missiles would be positioned along the country’s border with South Korea.
Following his praise for what he described as “successful advances” in the country’s efforts to improve its war deterrence capability, Kim, according to North Korea’s official news agency, KCNA, assigned certain obligations to the country’s nuclear fighting forces to build up. To respond with what Kim refers to as American hostility, the North has promised to develop powerful weapons systems, and the country has lately performed tests to demonstrate this claim.
As long as North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, instructs the country’s citizens to construct and develop weapons, the country has no choice but to comply. Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security in Washington, says the test serves to convince his country’s citizens that their country is strong, despite the appearance of economic troubles. It’s possible that the political timing was picked to protest forthcoming military exercises between the United States and South Korea.”
In Pyongyang, Kim Il Sung’s 110th birthday was commemorated with a massive procession on Friday, which included a big number of ordinary folks. Neither a much anticipated military parade nor an exhibition of the country’s new armament took place on the day of its most important national festival, as far as I am aware.
Kim Jong Un may still stage a military parade on April 25, the anniversary of the foundation of North Korea’s army, according to reports. Because there was no military parade at this year’s anniversaries, it is possible that Kim Jong-un does not have any new, strong missiles to demonstrate, which could lead to a nuclear test.
