Pyongyang claims to have tested a new weapon system
The North Korean military has tested a new weapon system aimed at improving the effectiveness of its tactical nuclear weapons.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observed the test of the new weapon. (illustrative image)
AFP
North Korea has test-fired a new weapon system that will increase the effectiveness of its tactical nuclear weapons, state media said on Sunday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observed the test of the new tactical guided weapon that will increase long-range artillery firepower and improve “the operating efficiency of the DPRK’s tactical nuclear weapons (People’s Republic Democratic Republic of Korea) and the diversification of their firepower missions”, declared the news agency KCNA without specifying the exact date of this test firing.
KCNA added that the test was successful. Kim Jong-un gave the military research team “important instructions on the continued strengthening of nuclear defense capabilities and combat forces,” the KCNA news agency added.
Photos published by the “Rodong Sinmun” newspaper showed a smiling Kim — surrounded by uniformed officials — cheering as he watched what was described as the weapon’s test firing. On Friday, North Korea celebrated the birthday of North Korea’s founding leader, Kim Jong-un’s grandfather, Kim Il-sung, with a huge public procession, fireworks and synchronized dancing – but no military parade as many observers had predicted.
Towards a seventh try?
South Korean and American analysts and officials had also believed that a nuclear test was possible on this important anniversary. The anniversary celebrations came three weeks following North Korea staged its biggest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile test – the first time Kim Jong-un’s most powerful weapon was fired at full throttle. worn since 2017.
This test marked the end of a self-imposed moratorium on long-range and nuclear testing. Long-range and nuclear tests were suspended following Kim met with then-US President Donald Trump.
Officials and analysts say North Korea might conduct its seventh nuclear test in the coming weeks. Satellite imagery has shown signs of new activity in a tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, which North Korea says was demolished in 2018 ahead of the first Trump-Kim summit.
North Korea has tested nuclear weapons six times since 2006 and touted the success of its latest and most powerful in 2017 – a hydrogen bomb with an estimated yield of 250 kilotons. With a new nuclear test, experts believe Pyongyang will seek to miniaturize the nuclear warheads to be mounted on its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
South Korean officials have said Pyongyang might still hold 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.
This anniversary coincides with the joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington, which are due to begin on Monday. South Korea and the United States regularly hold military exercises, but Pyongyang has regularly protested once morest these exercises by denouncing preparations for a war.
Posted today at 01:10
You found an error?Please let us know.
