North Korea says it has tested 'super-large warhead' during cruise missile drill

North Korea says it has tested 'super-large warhead' during cruise missile drill
by Simon Druker
Washington DC (UPI) Apr 20, 2024

North Korea said Saturday it has conducted a cruise missile test with what its state-run media called a "super-large warhead."

The surface-to-air missile test took place Friday afternoon over the Sea of Japan, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

The drills were meant to test the "power of super-large warhead of the strategic cruise missile Hwasal-1Ra-3 and test-fired the new-type anti-aircraft missile Pyoltsi-1-2 on the West Sea of Korea," according to KCNA, which quoted the General Missile Bureau of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The tests "achieved purposes concerned," North Korea said.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency published a photo reportedly of the missile launches, using a mobile launching vehicle on what appears to be a runway.

"Those tests are parts of normal works of national defense research institutions under the General Bureau for rapid technical development in different aspects including the tactical technical performance and operation of new-type weapon systems and have nothing to do with [the] surrounding situation," the KCNA news release reads.

South Korean officials said they were aware of the military maneuvers.

"Our military has been closely monitoring signs of North Korea's provocations and military activities, while maintaining the robust combined defense posture," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The tests come as Pyongyang reaches the fourth year in a five-year plan for its cruise missile systems.

Earlier this month, North Korea said it successfully test-fired a new intermediate-range hypersonic missile.

If true, the news would add another nuclear-capable weapon to its arsenal.

In late March, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presided over the test of a solid-fuel engine for a new intermediate-range hypersonic missile. That came only one day after observing the launch of short-range ballistic missiles.

The tests come the same day North Korean officials slammed a visit to Asia by the top U.S. envoy to the United Nations as an "aid-begging trip" meant to prop up an "illegal" sanctions regime against the isolated state.

Kim Son Gyong, the North's Vice Foreign Minister, made the remarks about U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who spent four days in South Korea this week before arriving in Japan on Thursday.