North Korea has test-fired a new weapons system under the supervision of leader Kim Jong Un, which the country claims would improve the effectiveness of its tactical nuclear bombs, according to official media.
The “new-type tactical guided weapon… is of great significance in drastically improving the firepower of frontline long-range artillery units and enhancing the efficiency in the operation of tactical nukes,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency, which did not specify when the test was conducted.
It stated that the test had been successful.
According to the report, Kim handed a military research team “vital orders on further bolstering up defence capabilities and nuclear war forces.”
The Rodong Sinmun newspaper published photos of a beaming Kim, who was surrounded by uniformed officials, cheering as he observed the weapon’s test-firing.
North Korea celebrated the birthday of Kim Il Sung, the country’s founding leader, on Friday with a massive public procession, fireworks, and synchronised dancing — but no military parade, as many observers had feared.
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Analysts, as well as South Korean and US officials, have speculated that a nuclear test could be carried out on the significant date.
Three weeks prior, North Korea conducted its greatest intercontinental ballistic missile test ever, marking the first time Kim’s most powerful weapon had been fired at full range since 2017.
This test marked the end of a year marked by a record-breaking flurry of sanctions-busting launches, signalling the end of a self-imposed moratorium on long-range and nuclear tests.
Long-range missile and nuclear testing have been halted since Kim met with then-US President Donald Trump for a dismal diplomacy session that ended in failure in 2019.
North Korea is expected to conduct its seventh nuclear test in the next weeks, according to officials and analysts.
Satellite data has revealed new activity at a tunnel at North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site, which the North claimed was demolished in 2018 ahead of the first Trump-Kim summit.
North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006, praising the success of the most recent and most powerful one, a hydrogen bomb with a yield of 250 kilotons, in 2017.
Experts believe Pyongyang may try to miniaturise nuclear bombs to fit on its ICBMs with a future nuclear test.
Pyongyang could still hold a military parade or conduct a weapons test on or around April 25, the anniversary of the Korean People’s Army’s foundation, according to South Korean officials.
That anniversary falls on the same day as the start of joint military drills between Seoul and Washington, which will begin on Monday.
South Korea and the United States conduct military drills on a regular basis, but Pyongyang has long denounced the drills as a dress rehearsal for nuclear war.
