It is the first known test of the so-called MIRV by Pyongyang, but South Korea questions the claim.
North Korea says it has successfully tested a multiple-warhead missile, a sophisticated weapon that would give it the means to overcome missile defenses in the continental United States, following a launch that South Korea and Japan said ended in failure.
Pyongyang “successfully conducted the separation and guidance control test of individual mobile warheads” on Wednesday, state news agency KCNA reported. The separate mobile warheads “were correctly guided to the three coordinated targets,” and a decoy that separated from the missile was verified by radar.
“The test aims to ensure the capability of the MIRV,” he said, referring to the independently targeted multiple reentry vehicle technology, which allows multiple warheads to be fired at a single ballistic missile.
North Korea has been developing its weapons as leader Kim Jong Un seeks to modernize the country’s armed forces. A missile with multiple warheads was among the weapons he said the country would use during a ruling party meeting in early 2021, where he also mentioned spy satellites, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons and submarine-launched missiles.
“I had been expecting a MIRV test for some time, as this was one of the last remaining items on Kim Jong Un’s modernization wish list from the Eighth Party Congress in January 2021,” said Ankit Panda, a senior analyst at Carnegie. Donation for International Peace.
Panda said Wednesday’s test appeared to be an initial assessment of some of the key subsystems to develop a viable MIRV. He expected more tests to follow, leading to the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on a high trajectory.
“The presence of bait is significant. North Korea has made no secret of its intention to strengthen and overcome US missile defenses,” Panda said. “The decoys will help in this effort and will likely also be incorporated into their single-warhead missiles.”
The KCNA report came a day after South Korea’s military said Pyongyang launched a possible solid-fuel hypersonic weapon that exploded in mid-air, while Japan reported debris falling into the waters off North Korea’s east coast.
South Korea’s military said a joint analysis with the U.S. military suggested the missile exploded in its initial phase of flight and that the weapon tested was not as KCNA described it.
“Today North Korea revealed something, but we believe it is simply a means of deception and exaggeration,” Lee Sung-joon, spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a briefing.
Photos released by North Korea that were purported to be from Wednesday’s test were also likely fabricated or recycled photos from a previous launch, he said.
Panda said it appeared Seoul “misinterpreted the nature of this test initially.”
South Korea, the US and Japan condemned the launch as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a serious threat, and warned against further provocations in the wake of last week’s summit between Kim Jong Un and the Russian President. Vladimir Putin, during which the two leaders signed a mutual defense pact.
Wednesday’s test was the North’s first weapons launch since it fired several nuclear-capable rocket launchers to simulate a preemptive strike on South Korea nearly a month ago.
In recent weeks, North Korea has also launched numerous garbage-filled balloons across the border to the south, in what it described as a retaliatory response to South Korean activists sending political leaflets via their own balloons. In response, South Korea on June 9 briefly conducted propaganda broadcasts over loudspeakers in border areas for the first time in years.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
