North Korea said today that it had test-launched a new long-range cruise missile and a short-range ballistic missile equipped with a 4.5-ton warhead.
"The test launch was aimed at verifying the accuracy of hitting a target located at an average range of 320 kilometers, as well as the explosive power of the large warhead," North Korea's state news agency KCNA reported.
The short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) launched on Wednesday was a Hwasongpho-11Da-4.5, a type of projectile first tested by Pyongyang on July 2.
KCNA said North Korea "also test-launched a strategic cruise missile whose performance has been improved for combat use," without giving further details.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "supervised both test launches" and "expressed great satisfaction with the results," it said.
Kim said that "such tests and the improvement in the performance of these weapons and equipment are directly related to the threat from external forces to the security environment of the state" in North Korea, KCNA added.
On Wednesday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected that the North fired several short-range ballistic missiles from north of the capital and that the projectiles flew northeast.
This morning (local time), the JCS said the ballistic and cruise missiles fired from Pyongyang by the North were likely to have landed in the mountainous region of northeastern North Korea.
The Japanese Defense Ministry said it detected at least two launches.
North Korea announced that it tested 600-millimeter multiple rocket launchers, described by the regime as capable of delivering tactical nuclear warheads, on September 12.
The following day, Pyongyang released images of uranium enrichment facilities during a visit by Kim Jong-un, who called for an increase in the number of nuclear weapons.
Kim "stressed the need to further increase the number of centrifuges in order to exponentially increase nuclear weapons for self-defense," KCNA reported.
It was the first time Pyongyang had released images of a uranium enrichment facility since 2010.
Two weeks ago, North Korea resumed the practice of launching balloons carrying waste toward South Korea. Pyongyang has sent nearly 5,000 balloons to the South since May.
Since 2022, North Korea has significantly accelerated its weapons testing.
Experts have pointed to a link with North Korea's alleged supply of munitions and missiles to Russia against Ukraine, a Western accusation that Pyongyang has denied.
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