North Korea has tested a new weapons system to improve the effectiveness of its tactical nuclear weapons, which are less powerful nuclear weapons to hit localized targets, state news agency KCNA said on Saturday (16, already Sunday in Pyongyang). Dictator Kim Jong-un oversaw the test, according to the agency.
The new weapon is “improving the firepower of first-line long-range artillery units and the operating efficiency of tactical nuclear weapons,” KCNA said. According to the agency, the test was carried out successfully – the text does not make it clear on what exact date the military exercise took place.
South Korea acknowledged on Saturday that its northern neighbors had launched two projectiles down the country’s east coast towards the sea. The projectiles were fired from Hamhung around 18:00 on Friday (15) and fell 110 kilometers away, with a maximum speed of 4,900 km/h.
For Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the test likely involved a short-range ballistic missile and North Korea’s first tactical nuclear weapons delivery system.
According to KCNA, the dictator’s presence in the military exercise served to give “important instructions to increase defensive capabilities and nuclear combat forces.”
On Friday (15), North Korea celebrated the 110th anniversary of the birth of the founder of the communist regime and grandfather of the current leader, Kim Il-sung, with a large march, fireworks and synchronized dancing, but without the traditional. military parade that was expected by analysts.
Observers and officials in South Korea and the United States feared the North Korean regime would conduct nuclear tests to mark the date. Three weeks ago, Pyongyang tested the most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile in its history, the first exercise involving such a projectile since 2017. With the launch, the regime ended a kind of self-imposed moratorium on long-range nuclear weapons.
Analysts say Kim is seeking to react to what he sees as a South Korean offensive with US backing. This Saturday, the US 2nd Infantry Division, based in South Korea, shared photos of tests of troops firing a multiple rocket launch system (MLRS). The exercises were aimed “to ensure that we maintain our readiness in support of the South Korea-US alliance,” the division said on Twitter.
