Seoul, South Korea — North Korea said Tuesday it had tested a new tactical ballistic missile capable of carrying a “super-large warhead,” a claim that was immediately questioned by South Korean officials and experts who speculated that Pyongyang faked a successful test to cover up a failed one.
It is the second time in recent days that Seoul has questioned a North Korean claim it is developing new weapons, as the two rival countries are locked in escalating hostilities over the North’s tests.
The Korean Central News Agency said the Hwasongpho-11Da-4.5 missile, which can carry a 4.5-ton warhead, was tested on Monday, saying the launch was aimed at checking flight stability and impact accuracy at a maximum range of 500 kilometers (310 miles) and a minimum of 90 kilometers (55 miles).
The test apparently referred to two ballistic missile launches the South said its rival had carried out on Monday.
South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Lee Sung Joon said at a briefing later Tuesday that the second North Korean missile was detected to have landed in an uninhabited area near Pyongyang, and that the North had conducted few test launches that had targeted ground targets.
“With regard to the North Korean assessment, we are considering the possibility of deception,” Lee said.
South Korea’s military said the second North Korean missile likely traveled abnormally during the initial phase of its flight and that if it had exploded, its debris would likely have scattered across the ground.
The NCCA report did not say where the new missile was launched from or where it landed. Unlike other tests, the North did not release any photos from Monday’s test. But the fact that it tested both the maximum and minimum ranges suggests that two launches were carried out.
The agency added, citing North Korea’s Missile Administration, that the missile will be tested again in late July to check the performance of its simulated warhead at the medium range, 250 kilometers (155 miles).
Some experts say the missile tests against ground targets could be linked to efforts to test the potency of their nuclear warheads to destroy bunkers and underground structures.
But Shin Jongwoo, a Seoul-based military expert, said the North’s failure to distribute any photos of the launches meant it was likely trying to mislead outsiders to cover up Monday’s failed launches. He said Pyongyang was likely launching an existing missile, not the new one it claims.
Yang Uk, an analyst at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said Monday’s tests reflect North Korea’s efforts to acquire a variety of conventional weapons. But he also said that if it had succeeded in hitting a ground target, it would have already released related images to boast of its achievements, as it has done in the past.
Since 2022, the secretive nation has accelerated weapons testing to expand its nuclear-capable arsenal designed to hit key sites on the U.S. mainland, South Korea and Japan. Experts say the country could use the expansion of its nuclear arsenal to increase its bargaining power in potential future diplomatic contacts with the United States.
Also on Tuesday, the South conducted live-fire exercises near the heavily fortified border separating the two countries, the first such drills since Seoul suspended a 2018 agreement in early June that had sought to reduce tensions in the region.
Meanwhile, at a four-day ruling party meeting that ended Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country’s economic and food situation had improved and tasked officials with maintaining stable economic development, the NCCA said Tuesday. The report did not say whether the meeting addressed security or foreign policy issues.
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