North Korea tested a new weapons system under the supervision of leader Kim Jong Un to improve the effectiveness of its “tactical nuclear weapons”closing the celebrations for the birth of the founder of the country.
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The new “guided tactical weapon” is of “great importance in improving the firepower of front-line long-range artillery units and improve the efficiency of the operation of tactical nuclear weapons,” the official KCNA news agency stated.
Analysts and foreign intelligence services expected a nuclear test coinciding with the 110th anniversary on Friday of Kim Il Sung’s birththe founder of North Korea and grandfather of the current leader.
However, that day, the birthday was commemorated with a huge march of civilians, fireworks and synchronized choreography, but without any type of parade or military demonstration.
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The KCNA agency did not detail the date of the test supervised by Kim Jong Un, which gave the military investigation team “important instructions to increase defensive capabilities and nuclear combat forces”.
This Is North Korea’s First Tactical Nuclear Weapons System, Is What It Looks Like
This test continues an unprecedented series of weapons tests by North Korea this year, including the launch of its first full-range ICBM since 2017.
The announcement comes on the eve of the start of joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea that had angered Pyongyang.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had detected two projectiles launched on Saturday night, which flew 110 km at a height of 25 km, traveling at four times the speed of sound, it added.
The United States said it was aware of “North Korea’s statement that they had conducted a long-range artillery system test” and was monitoring it, a Pentagon spokesman said.
The photographs published by the official newspaper Rodong Sinmun show a smiling Kim Jong Un surrounded by uniformed officers and applauding while contemplating what, according to the newspaper, was the shot of the gun.
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End of nuclear moratorium
Analysts noted that the weapon appeared to be a new short-range ballistic missile, but they did not downplay it.
“This Is North Korea’s First Tactical Nuclear Weapons System, Is What It Looks Like”said Ankit Panda, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The test “comes as indicators of significant reconstruction work at the Punggye-ri nuclear test base are growing,” Panda said, referring to reports of a resumption of activity at this important military facility.
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At a single party congress in January 2021, Kim detailed a five-year defense development plan to develop nuclear technology and make smaller, lighter weapons for “more tactical uses.”
Those statements pointed to a return to nuclear testing. Kim’s unusual appearance at the launch of a short-range missile suggests “a particular importance” of this trial, Panda said.
North Korea self-imposed a moratorium on long-range and nuclear weapons tests amid a diplomatic rapprochement between Kim and then-US President Donald Trump that collapsed in 2019 and has been stalled ever since.
Pyongyang has deployed six nuclear weapons tests since 2006. The last and most powerful was in 2017 with a 250 kiloton hydrogen bomb.
This resumption of the atomic program was predictable by analysts after the publication of satellite images showing activity at the Punggye-ri nuclear facility, which North Korea said it had demolished in 2018 before the first summit between Kim and Trump.
With the new test, experts believe Pyongyang is looking to miniaturize its atomic warheads to load onto its intercontinental ballistic missiles.
AFP
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