Photo : KBS News
Anchor: A day after South Korea said it detected a test-fire of multiple ballistic missiles from the North, the regime released images of a new weapon striking a ground target. While boasting a high explosive yield for the new ballistic missile, the North insinuated the weapon can hit a key U.S. army base in the South.
Kim Bum-soo has more.
Report: North Korea announced that it has successfully tested a new tactical ballistic missile equipped with what it called a super-large warhead.
North Korean media said Thursday that the regime test-fired the weapon, dubbed the “Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5,” the previous day.
Releasing images of a projectile plummeting to the ground, the North said the test confirmed the ballistic weapon’s striking capability against a target 320 kilometers away.
Camp Humphreys, the U.S. army’s headquarters in South Korea, falls within about 320-kilometer radius of the launch site.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was reportedly at the weapons test and expressed great satisfaction.
According to experts, the new ballistic missile may be a version of the North’s KN-23 short-range missile, upgraded to carry a four-point-five-ton non-nuclear high-explosive warhead.
Experts said the North is seeking to demonstrate that it is capable of striking South Korea and the U.S. military’s underground bunker facilities.
In an apparent deceptive tactic, on Wednesday the North also test-fired cruise missiles along with the Hwasongpho ballistic missile.
The South Korean military said Wednesday morning that it detected multiple short-range ballistic missiles launched from the North’s west-central region, and estimated that they flew about 400 kilometers.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.