North Korea tests ballistic missile armed with cluster bomb

North Korea announced Thursday that it tested multiple weapons systems earlier this week, including a tactical ballistic missile armed with a cluster-bomb warhead, an electromagnetic system, and carbon-fiber sham bombs, News.Az reports, citing Kyodo.

The announcement by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) came a day after South Korea reported that North Korea had launched several short-range ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan.

KCNA confirmed that the surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missile Hwasongpho-11 Ka, equipped with a cluster-bomb warhead, can “reduce to ashes any target covering an area of 6.5–7 hectares.” The tests, conducted over three days through Wednesday, were overseen by Gen. Kim Jong Sik, who described the electromagnetic weapon and carbon-fiber bomb as “special assets of strategic nature.” The report did not mention the presence of leader Kim Jong Un at the site.

In addition, North Korea tested a mobile short-range anti-aircraft missile system and evaluated the maximum workload of an engine using low-cost materials, KCNA said.

North Korea is not a signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of these weapons, whose unexploded bomblets remain hazardous to civilians.

According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, one missile fired Wednesday traveled more than 700 kilometers, reaching a maximum altitude of 60 km, possibly on an irregular trajectory, before landing outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

South Korea also reported that North Korea launched a projectile on Tuesday near Pyongyang, which exhibited abnormal flight patterns and disappeared shortly after launch.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev