Pyongyang says it has tested a new weapons system
The North Korean military has tested a new weapons system aimed at improving the effectiveness of its tactical nuclear weapons.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observes new weapons test (Illustration)
AFP
North Korea has tested a new weapons system that could enhance the effectiveness of its tactical nuclear weapons, state media said Sunday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversees the testing of a new tactical guidance weapon, which will increase the firepower of long-range artillery and “enhance the mobility of DBRK’s tactical nuclear weapons (People’s Republic of Korea Democratic Republic)” and diversify their firearms. Tasks ”, the KCNA news agency did not specify the exact date of the test shooting.
KCNA added that the test was successful. Kim Jong-un presented the military research team with “key guidelines for the continued strengthening of nuclear defense capabilities and combat forces,” the KCNA news agency added.
Photos published in the “Rodang Sinmun” newspaper showed the smiling Kim – surrounded by uniformed officers – cheering as she described what she described as a test firearm of a weapon. On Friday, North Korea celebrated the birthday of Kim Jong-un’s grandfather Kim Il-sung, the founding president of North Korea, with a large public procession, fireworks and synchronized dancing – but no military parade, as many observers predicted.
Towards the seventh attempt?
South Korean and US researchers and officials believe a nuclear test is possible at this important annual event. The anniversary comes three weeks after North Korea test-fired its largest intercontinental ballistic missile – the first time Kim Jong-un’s powerful weapon has been fired at full range.
The test marked the end of a long-distance and self-imposed ban on nuclear testing. After Kim met with then-US President Donald Trump, long-range and nuclear weapons tests were halted.
North Korea could conduct its seventh nuclear test in the coming weeks, officials and analysts say. Satellite images show signs of new activity in a tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site that North Korea claims was demolished in 2018, just before the first Trump-Kim summit.
North Korea has tested nuclear weapons six times since 2006 and in 2017 spoke of its latest and most powerful success – a hydrogen bomb with a yield of 250 kilotons. Experts believe that with a new nuclear test, Pyongyang is trying to make smaller the nuclear weapons fitted to its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
South Korean officials have said Pyongyang could hold a military parade or conduct a weapons test on or around April 25, the day the Korean People’s Army was established.
This coincides with the joint military exercise between Seoul and Washington, which is set to begin on Monday. South Korea and the United States routinely hold military exercises, but Pyongyang continues to protest against these exercises, condemning preparations for war.
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