The gunfire observed by Kim Jong Un comes as the United States and South Korea warn that North Korea may soon resume nuclear tests.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has witnessed the test launch of a “new type of tactical guided weapon” aimed at boosting the country’s nuclear capabilities, according to state media.
The report came early Sunday after South Korea and the United States warned that Pyongyang could soon resume nuclear tests and after Kim violated a self-imposed moratorium on intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests last month.
The Korean Central News Agency said that the latest weapons test “is of great importance for drastically improving the firepower of long-range artillery units and increasing the effectiveness of tactical nuclear weapons.”
It is not specified when the test was performed and no details were provided about the missile involved.
Kim, who is leading the test, “gives important instructions for further building the country’s defense capabilities and nuclear forces”, it added.
Photos circulated by Rodong Sinmun show a grinning Kim – surrounded by uniformed officers – applauding as he watched the test firing of the weapon.
The South Korean military confirmed the release of weapons, saying early Sunday that it had detected two shells fired from the east coast of the North to the sea late Saturday.
The shells flew about 110 kilometers (68 miles) with an apogee of 25 kilometers and a top speed below Mach 4, the report said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reacted during a test launch of a new tactical guided weapon in this undated photo published on April 16, 2022 by the Korean Central News Agency of North Korea [KCNA via Reuters]
Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the weapon was probably a short-range ballistic missile and the first tactical system to supply nuclear weapons to the North.
“This test of a tactical nuclear delivery system comes with rising indicators of significant recovery work at the Pungi-ri nuclear test site in North Korea,” he said.
The site, in the far northeast of the country, is where North Korea conducted all six nuclear tests.
It was closed in 2018 before the first round of talks between Kim and then-US President Donald Trump.
These negotiations failed in 2019.
Images taken by a commercial satellite in March show signs of new activity in a tunnel there, and officials and analysts say North Korea could carry out its seventh nuclear test in the coming weeks.
Duyon Kim, an expert on North Korea at the US-based Center for New American Security, said North Korea’s weapons tests have shown the people that their country is strong.
She added that one of the reasons for the timing of the latest test could be the protest against the expected joint US-South Korean military exercises, which are due to begin on Monday.
US Special Representative Sung Kim is also scheduled to visit Seoul on the same day for a five-day visit to discuss the response to the North’s recent rocket launches with his South Korean counterparts.
The United States has said it is open to talks with North Korea at all times and unconditionally, but Pyongyang has so far rejected the initiatives, accusing Washington of pursuing hostile policies such as sanctions and military exercises.
The KCNA’s report on new weapons tests also came shortly after North Korea marked the 110th anniversary of the birth of the late founder Kim Il Sung, one of the country’s biggest annual public holidays, but without a military parade.
South Korean officials said Pyongyang could still hold a military parade or conduct weapons tests on or about April 25, the anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army.
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