- North Korea claims it has tested a new ballistic missile capable of carrying a “super-large warhead.” South Korean officials cast doubt on the claim, speculating that the launch was unsuccessful and that the North’s report was a cover-up.
- Military expert Shin Jongwoo said the lack of photos of the launch meant that the North was trying to deceive outsiders to cover up the failed launch. He said North Korea launched an existing missile, not a new one as claimed.
- Since 2022, North Korea has accelerated its weapons testing activities to expand its nuclear arsenal. Experts say North Korea wants to increase its influence in future diplomacy with the US
North Korea said Tuesday it had tested a new tactical ballistic missile capable of carrying a “super-large warhead,” a claim quickly disputed by South Korean officials and experts who speculated the North may have staged the successful test to cover up the failed launch.
It is the second time South Korea has questioned North Korea’s claims of new weapons development in recent years, as the rivals are locked in heightened hostility over the North’s testing activities.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Monday’s test involved the Hwasongpho-11 Da-4.5 missile, which can carry a 4.5-ton class warhead. It said the test was to verify the weapon’s flight stability and accuracy at a maximum range of 310 miles and a minimum range of 55 miles.
The US should not sleep on the major threat from North Korea
The tests showed two South Korean-launched ballistic missiles that North Korea carried out Monday.
Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Lee Sung Joon said at a briefing later Tuesday that a second North Korean missile was found to have landed in an unpopulated area near Pyongyang, the North’s capital. He said he was able to find some of North Korea’s previous tests aimed at underground target sites.
“Regarding North Korea’s assessment, we consider the possibility of fraud,” Lee said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech during a meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea. The content of this image is as available and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
South Korea’s military said the second North Korean missile may have malfunctioned during the early stages of its flight. He said that if the missile explodes, the debris will be scattered on the ground.
The KCNA post did not say where the new missile was launched from or where it landed. Unlike previous weapons tests, North Korea also did not release photos of Monday’s test. The fact that it tested the maximum and minimum range of the missile indicates that North Korea carried out two launches.
KCNA, citing the North Korean Missile Administration, reported that North Korea will test the missile again in July to verify the performance of the simulated warhead at a medium range of 155 miles.
Some experts say the missile tests on ground targets may be related to efforts to test how powerful the warhead is to destroy bunkers and underground structures.
But Shin Jongwoo, a Seoul-based military expert, said the absence of photos of the launch meant the North was likely trying to trick outsiders into covering up Monday’s failed launch. He said North Korea likely launched an existing missile on Monday, not the new missile it claimed.
Yang Uk, an analyst at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said Monday’s test reflected North Korea’s push to acquire a wide range of conventional weapons. But he also said that if North Korea had actually succeeded in hitting its target, it would have released the related image to boast of its achievement as it had done before.
As of 2022, North Korea has accelerated its weapons testing activities to rapidly expand its nuclear arsenal. The missile range North Korea claims from its newly tested missile points to a South Korean target. Experts say North Korea ultimately wants to use its expanded weapons arsenal to increase leverage in future diplomacy with the US.
On June 26, North Korea launched what it called a new multiwarhead missile in the first known test of a developmental weapon intended to penetrate its rival’s missile defenses. North Korea said the launch was a success, but South Korea dismissed the North’s claims as a hoax to cover up the failed launch. South Korea said the weapon exploded, sending debris into the water off the North’s east coast.
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Also on Tuesday, South Korea held live-fire drills near its heavily-held land border with North Korea, the first since South Korea suspended a 2018 agreement with the North aimed at reducing frontline military tensions in early June. Last week, South Korea held a similar live-fire drill near its western sea border with North Korea.
South Korea’s retreating drills could prompt North Korea, which has also said it will no longer be bound by the 2018 pact, to take provocative steps in the border region.
Meanwhile, during a four-day key party meeting that ended Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un claimed that his country’s economic and food situation is improving and tasked officials with maintaining stable economic development, KCNA said Tuesday. It did not mention whether the meeting discussed security or foreign policy issues.
