State media say the tests were overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, who has made the acquisition of tactical nuclear weapons a priority.
North Korea has tested a pair of long-range strategic cruise missiles, with leader Kim Jong Un hailing another successful display of the country’s tactical nuclear strike capability.
The test, which took place on Wednesday, was aimed at “improving the efficiency and combat power” of cruise missiles deployed in the Korean People’s Army “for tactical nuclear bomb operation”, it reported state media KCNA on Thursday morning.
It was the latest in a series of weapons launches that have raised tensions on the divided Korean peninsula and raised fears that Pyongyang is on the verge of carrying out its first nuclear test in five years.
The cruise missiles traveled 2,000 km (1,240 miles) over the sea, according to KCNA, which said the projectiles hit the intended but unspecified targets.
Cruise missile launches are not as heavily monitored as ballistic missile launches, but analysts say they could carry conventional or nuclear warheads in the event of a conflict. [KCNA/KNS via AFP]
Stressing that the test was another clear warning to “enemies”, Kim said the country “should continue to expand the operational sphere of the nuclear strategic armed forces to resolutely deter any crucial military crisis and war crisis at any time and fully take the initiative in this,” according to KCNA.
A spokesman for the US State Department declined to comment on the launches, saying Washington remained focused on coordinating with allies and partners to address threats posed by North Korea.
On Monday, North Korean state media reported that Kim had overseen two weeks of guided nuclear tactical exercises, including the test of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) that was launched over Japan in protest against South Korea’s recent joint naval exercises. and the United States which involved the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.
Error rejecting evidence
North Korea’s state media once routinely reported on the country’s weapons tests, but have stopped doing so in recent months.
Analysts say that while the recent “propaganda deluge” cannot be trusted, the evidence should not be ignored.
“North Korea’s cruise missiles, air force and tactical nuclear devices are probably far less capable than the propaganda suggests. But it would be a mistake to dismiss North Korea’s recent weapons tests as bluster or stomping ground know,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, wrote in emailed comments.
“Pyongyang’s military threats are a chronic and worsening problem for peace and stability in Asia that should not be ignored. Policymakers in Seoul, Tokyo and Washington should not allow domestic politics and other challenges such as Russia’s war in Ukraine to prevent them from increasing international coordination on military deterrence and economic sanctions.”
North Korea’s cruise missiles tend to generate less interest than ballistic weapons because they are not explicitly banned under UN Security Council resolutions.
Kim made the acquisition of smaller, lighter, battlefield-designed tactical nuclear weapons a priority at a key party congress in January 2021 and first tested a cruise missile.” strategic” in September of that year.
Analysts said it was the country’s first nuclear-capable weapon of its kind and a worrisome development because, in the event of a conflict, it might not be clear whether it carried a conventional or nuclear warhead.
The country revised its nuclear laws last month to allow pre-emptive strikes, with Kim declaring North Korea an “irreversible” nuclear power, effectively ending the possibility of negotiations over its arsenal.
President Joe Biden unveiled the latest update to America’s national security strategy on Wednesday, but it contained only a single reference to North Korea.
Daniel Russel, the top US diplomat for East Asia under former President Barack Obama, said this was surprising, “not only because it so quickly passes over a persistent and existential threat, but also because it frames the strategy as “seeking sustained diplomacy toward denuclearization.”, when North Korea has so convincingly demonstrated its total rejection of negotiations.”