North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Friday that Pyongyang conducted tests of an upgraded long-range cruise missile and a warhead for a tactical guided missile this week, as leader Kim Jong Un visited an munitions factory that produces a “major weapons system”.
Tensions have risen over a series of six weapons tests by North Korea since the start of the year, among the largest number of missile launches it has conducted in a month, sparking international outrage and prompting the United States to push for new sanctions against Pyongyang.
The agency said that North Korea tested a modernized long-range cruise missile system as well as a conventional warhead for a surface-to-surface guided missile on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.
The agency said in a separate cable that Kim did not attend the tests, but during a visit to the munitions factory he praised “rapid progress in the production of large weapons” to implement decisions of the ruling Workers’ Party taken at a meeting last month.
“The factory occupies a very important position and is responsible for modernizing the country’s armed forces and realizing the national defense development strategy,” Kim said.
The agency did not specify the weapons or the location of the factory. Kim called for strengthening national defenses to cope with the unstable international situation.
North Korea said last week it would bolster its defenses against the United States and consider resuming “all temporarily suspended activities”, hinting at lifting a self-proclaimed moratorium on nuclear bomb and intercontinental ballistic missile tests.
Pyongyang defends its missile tests as a sovereign right of self-defense and has accused Washington and Seoul of pursuing a “hostile policy” and double standards over the missile tests.
Pyongyang has not tested any ICBMs or nuclear weapons since 2017, but a series of short-range missile launches began amid stalled denuclearization talks after a failed summit with the United States in 2019.