North Korea says it tested long-range cruise missiles to boost ‘nuclear forces’ . Seoul did not previously announce test, which DPRK says it conducted over West Sea in ‘warning to the enemy’
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a test of two “long-range strategic cruise missiles” on Wednesday to “expand” the capabilities of units in charge of nuclear weapons, according to state media.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a test of two “long-range strategic cruise missiles” on Wednesday to “expand” the capabilities of units in charge of nuclear weapons, according to state media.
The missiles, launched at an undisclosed time at night, struck a target after flying around 1,240 miles (2,000 km) in oval and figure-eight patterns over the West Sea for about 170 minutes, the Rodong Sinmun reported on Thursday.
The test was aimed at sending “another clear warning to the enemy,” according to the report, without mentioning the U.S. or South Korea by name as state media did in reports earlier this week on previous missile tests.
South Korean military authorities did not previously announce whether they detected the test, but ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Kim Jun-rak told reporters Thursday it was tracked in real time and the military chose not to disclose it “based on considerations over exposing our government’s surveillance capabilities.”
However, Kim disclosed the details he said were initially withheld to protect sources and methods, saying the cruise missile launch took place from Kaechon, North Phyongan Province around 2 a.m. KST on Wednesday.
DPRK leader Kim Jong Un reportedly ordered the launch to test the “rapid reaction ability of our nuclear combat force,” while Thursday’s report said the long-range strategic cruise missiles have already been “deployed at the tactical nuclear operation units of the Korean People’s Army.”
“We should continue to expand the operational theater of the nuclear strategic force in order to resolutely control any grave military crisis or war crisis at any moment,” Kim reportedly said at the test.
He ordered the “uninterrupted strengthening of national defense capabilities” and “unlimited and speedy strengthening and development of the state nuclear combat force.”
The South Korean Presidential Office said Thursday the cruise missile test “did not threaten our military’s three-axis system” and that the ROK military would “firmly respond with overwhelming force to any North Korean provocation” in the future.
A single image of Kim included with the state media report shows he was standing in a highway tunnel looking at TV screens while surrounded by top military general Kim Jong Sik as well as political officials Ri Il Hwan, Jo Yong Won, Kim Jae Ryong and others.
Observers have been anticipating North Korea’s first nuclear test since 2017, after Pyongyang rebuilt testing tunnels in the remote northeast of the country earlier this year. Some have suggested the next test may be related to a smaller, “tactical” nuclear warhead that would be used on missiles such as those tested in the last week.
North Korea previously implied it had already deployed “tactical” short-range nuclear missiles to units around the country in a long report released Monday on seven recent missile tests, according to Ankit Panda, an NK Pro contributor and Stanton Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
But Pyongyang has yet to demonstrate the ability to fit nuclear warheads onto smaller missiles such as those tested in recent weeks. Panda told NK News that North Korea could very well have deployed the cruise missile and short-range missile systems to “tactical” units but that they may not yet be fitted with nuclear warheads.
Pyongyang “will need to test a more compact, tactical nuclear warhead in a nuclear test,” Panda said. “They will probably want the assurance of a test. The test will also make their capability more credible.”
Top missile sector official Kim Jong Sik appears on the far left with Kim Jong Un watching the missile test unfold from an apparent highway tunnel | Image: Rodong Sinmun (Oct. 13, 2022)
Thursday’s report appeared to mark the first time since April that North Korean state media reported on a missile test carried out the previous day. While Kim had previously overseen seven missile tests since late September, the DPRK held off on releasing details and images until Oct. 10.
State media last reported on a “long-range cruise missile” test in January, while South Korea said it detected a cruise missile test in August. Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s sister, claimed through state media that the ROK military misidentified launch location for the August test by about 56 miles (90 kilometers) but no images or other details were released.
Photos of a Sept. 2021 cruise missile test and the one this week look similar, suggesting the new photo may be recycled or that the test location on a road is the same. State media was caught earlier this week recycling another image of a missile test.
The Rodong Sinmun carried the missile test report Thursday on page 7, after a long report on Kim Jong Un attending an event celebrating two important “revolutionary schools” the military uses to raise orphans into soldiers from a young age.
Meanwhile, the South Korean military revealed Thursday that it failed to fully track one of two ATACMS missiles it fired on the night of Oct. 4.
JCS spokesperson Kim Jun-rak told reporters all missiles were “fired normally” and that the failure to detect one missile’s landing was because the military did not prepare additional tracking methods in advance. Kim said the test was organized hastily as a show of force in response to North Korea firing a missile over Japan earlier that day.
Reporters appeared to criticize the JCS for having claimed the morning after the test that the missiles struck targets in “precision strikes.” During that same Oct. 4 test, one South Korean Hyunmoo-2 missile also failed shortly after launch and exploded near a residential area.
Edited by Bryan Betts. Updated on Oct. 13 at 7:48 a.m. KST with expert comments and at 2:50 p.m. to include details from the ROK JCS on the cruise missile test and new information about a partial missile test failure last week.
Source:nknews.org/