PYONGYANG (Dispatches) – North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Uun supervised the test-firing of a new guided weapons system to improve the country’s “tactical nukes”, state media said Sunday, capping days of celebrations surrounding the birthday of the country’s founding leader.
The “new-type tactical guided weapon... is of great significance in drastically improving the firepower of the frontline long-range artillery units and enhancing the efficiency in the operation of tactical nukes,” the North’s official KCNA news agency reported.
It said the test was successful.
Before the launch, the country’s ruler gave a military research team “important instructions on further building up the defense capabilities and nuclear combat forces,” the report added.
The launch was the latest in an unprecedented intensification of sanctions-busting weapons-tests this year, which included firing an intercontinental ballistic missile at full range for the first time since 2017.
The launch came just ahead of U.S.-South Korea military training exercises – which have always infuriated Pyongyang – that were due to begin on Monday.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected two projectiles, which flew 110 kilometers at an altitude of 25 kilometers, travelling at speeds of around Mach 4.
A Pentagon spokesperson said the United States was “aware of the North Korean statement that they conducted a test of a long range artillery system.”
On Saturday, the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, based in South Korea, shared photos of troops test-firing a multiple launch rocket system (MLRS), though, it was unclear when the drills took place.
The live-fire exercises were to “ensure we maintain our readiness here in support of the ROK-U.S. Alliance,” the division said on Twitter, using the initials of South Korea’s official name.
Three weeks earlier, North Korea staged its largest intercontinental ballistic missile test ever.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, took unprecedented steps towards apparently fraternizing the North by initiating several rounds of dialog with it, and even walking a number of steps into the country alongside Kim.
However, Washington blew what Pyongyang called a “golden opportunity” at mending the situation by insisting too much on the North’s denuclearization. The emphasis prompted Pyongyang to discredit all the steps that had been taken by Trump as ingenuine and go back to its fiery discourse towards Washington.
Since Biden’s inauguration, Pyongyang has denounced the new president for pursuing a “hostile policy” and saying it was a “big blunder” for him to say he would deal with the “threat” posed by the North’s nuclear program “through diplomacy as well as stern deterrence.”