By Jack Kim
North Korea tested new tactical ballistic missiles using super-large warheads and modified cruise missiles on Wednesday led by leader Kim Jong Un, who called for stronger conventional weapons and nuclear capabilities, state news agency KCNA reported.
The tests to improve weapons capabilities are required because of the grave threat posed by outside forces to the security of the country, Kim was quoted as saying.
KCNA was likely reporting on the firing of multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday reported by the South Korean military, which was the second time the North test-launched missiles in a week.
Last week, North Korea also unveiled a uranium enrichment facility, in the first such public report ever.
He stressed “the need to continue to bolster up the nuclear force and have the strongest military technical capability and overwhelming offensive capability in the field of conventional weapons too,” KCNA said.
Wednesday’s tests involved the new tactical ballistic missile Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5, KCNA said, indicating it was part of a series of short-range ballistic missiles it had been developing, some of which are believed to have been exported to Russia.
Kyiv officials and independent experts have said there were signs some of the missiles used by Russia in the war against Ukraine were North Korean-made.
The missile was mounted with a 4.5-ton super-large conventional warhead, KCNA said.
The tests also included a strategic cruise missile that has been upgraded for combat use, it said.
North Korea has criticised military drills by the South Korean and U.S. militaries, including a large-scale exercise conducted this summer, as preparations for war on the Korean peninsula.
The allies say the drills are defensive in nature and aimed at maintaining readiness against any North Korean aggression.
