North Korea: Pyongyang reportedly tested missile with ‘super-large’ warhead

North Korea said Thursday it had fired a strategic cruise missile and a tactical ballistic missile capable of carrying a “super-large” warhead this week, state media reported.

Leader Kim Jong-un “guided the test launches” of “a new type of Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5 tactical ballistic missile and an improved strategic cruise missile,” the official KCNA news agency said.

The nuclear-armed North Korean regime has carried out dozens of launches this year. Experts say they may be linked to North Korea’s alleged supply of munitions and missiles to Moscow in its fight against Ukraine. The West accuses Pyongyang of supplying weapons to Russia, a charge the regime denies.

“For the security of the state”

“The new-type tactical ballistic missile was equipped with a 4.5-ton super-large conventional warhead in accordance with its design,” KCNA said. South Korea’s military had described Wednesday’s launches as a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles, which traveled about 400 kilometers.

The launch “aimed to verify the accuracy of the strike at an average distance of 320 km and the explosive power of the super-large warhead,” the KCNA news agency said on Thursday. The test was necessary “for state security,” according to Kim Jong-un, quoted by the agency.

“The military and political situation in the region indicates that the work of strengthening the military self-defense capability should be a priority,” he said, according to KCNA.

South Korea, the “main enemy”

In a sign of rising tensions, North Korea this year declared South Korea its “main enemy” and recently moved nuclear-capable weapons to its border.

It has recently strengthened its military ties with Moscow, including a visit to Pyongyang by President Vladimir Putin in June, during which he signed a mutual defense agreement with Kim Jong-un.

Russian security chief Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang last week, while North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui was in Russia this week for talks.

Pyongyang is also preparing to hold a parliamentary session in early October to consider amending its constitution to designate Seoul as an enemy, which is likely to escalate tensions with South Korea.

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