- North Korea claimed it had tested a new ballistic missile capable of carrying “a very large warhead”. South Korean officials doubted the claim and speculated that the launch had in fact been unsuccessful and that North Korea’s report was a cover-up.
- Military expert Shin Jongwoo said the lack of photos of the launches meant North Korea was trying to deceive outsiders by hiding failed launches. He said North Korea probably launched an existing missile, not a new one as it claimed.
- North Korea has accelerated weapon testing activities to increase its nuclear arsenal from 2022. Experts say North Korea wants to increase its influence in diplomacy with the US in the future
North Korea said on Tuesday it had tested a new tactical ballistic missile capable of carrying “a very large warhead.” The claim was quickly denied by South Korean officials and experts, who speculated that North Korea had possibly fabricated a successful test to hide a failed launch.
This is the second time in recent days that South Korea has questioned North Korea’s claim of developing new weapons, as hostility between the two rival countries has escalated over North Korea’s testing activities.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Monday’s test involved a Hwasongfo-11 Da-4.5 missile, which can carry a 4.5-ton warhead. It said the test was aimed at verifying the weapon’s flight stability and hit accuracy at a maximum range of 310 miles and a minimum range of 55 miles.
America should not remain silent on the grave threat from North Korea
This test clearly refers to two things: Ballistic missile launch South Korea said North Korea took this action on Monday.
Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Lee Sung-Jun said in a briefing on Tuesday that North Korea’s second missile was found downed in an uninhabited area near the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. He said they had found some test-launches carried out by North Korea before, which hit ground target sites.
“With regard to the North Korean assessment, we are considering the possibility of deception,” 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 in this image is provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
The South Korean military said North Korea’s second missile may have traveled in an unusual way during the early stages of its flight. It said if the missile had exploded, debris would likely have scattered to the ground.
The KCNA dispatch did not say where it launched the new missile from and where it landed. Unlike previous weapons tests, North Korea did not release any photos of Monday’s test. The fact that it tested both the maximum and minimum range of the missile suggests that North Korea carried out two launches.
North Korea will test the missile again in late July to verify the performance of its mock warhead at a medium-range range of 155 miles, KCNA reported, citing the North Korean Missile Administration.
Some experts say the testing of missiles on ground targets may be related to efforts to test how powerful the weapons are to destroy underground bunkers and structures.
But Seoul-based military expert Shin Jongwoo said the absence of any photos of the launches meant it was very likely North Korea was trying to deceive outsiders by covering up Monday’s failed launches. He said North Korea Monday’s launch was likely an existing missile, not a new one as was claimed.
Yang Yuk, an analyst at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said Monday’s tests reflected North Korea’s efforts to acquire a variety of conventional weapons. But he also said that if North Korea had indeed succeeded in hitting ground targets, it would probably have already published related images to tout its achievement, as it has done in the past.
Starting in 2022, North Korea has rapidly stepped up weapons testing activities to expand its nuclear arsenal. The range of the newly tested missile claimed by North Korea means it targets South Korea. Experts say North Korea will eventually want to use the expanded weapons arsenal to increase its leverage in future diplomacy with the US
On June 26, North Korea launched a new multiwarhead missile in the first known test of a weapon it is developing aimed at penetrating its rivals’ missile defense systems. North Korea said the launch was successful, but South Korea dismissed the North’s claim as a hoax. Hiding a failed launchSouth Korea said the weapon exploded, spreading debris into waters off North Korea’s east coast.
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Also on Tuesday, South Korea conducted live-fire drills near its heavily fortified land border with North Korea, the first of its kind since South Korea in early June suspended a 2018 agreement with North Korea aimed at reducing front-line military tensions. Last week, South Korea conducted similar live-fire exercises near its disputed western maritime border with North Korea.
South Korea’s continued exercises could prompt provocative moves in border areas by North Korea, which has also said it will no longer be bound by the 2018 agreement.
Meanwhile, during a four-day key ruling party meeting that ended on Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un claimed his country’s economic and food situation had improved and tasked officials to maintain stable economic growth, KCNA said on Tuesday. It did not mention whether any security or foreign policy issues were discussed at the meeting.
