North Korea confirmed on Friday that it conducted a flurry of weapons tests earlier this week. The state-run media, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), said that the Kim Jong Un-led regime tested long-range cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles. According to estimates made by several news agencies, Kim conducted six weapons tests so far since the beginning of this year and in January alone.
North Korea in a statement said that this week it conducted tests to determine the effectiveness of its long-range cruise missile system and updated it. It said that it also updated and conducted a test to confirm the power of conventional warheads for surface-to-surface tactical guided missiles.
North Korea said that on Tuesday it tested several long-range cruise missiles over the Sea of Japan and hit a target 1,800 miles away. It further added that on Thursday it tested short range ballistic missiles which also hit the ‘target island’ and determined ‘the explosive power of the conventional warhead’ and how it ‘complied with the design requirements’, according to a report by news agency AFP.
The United States as well as its allies in the Indo-Pacific region are concerned with the tests, especially with the hypersonic missiles as those are not only capable of avoiding radar detection as they fly at very fast speeds but also because they can change their course mid-flight.
The North Korean state-run media also released photos of a contented Kim Jong Un in his trademark long black belted leather jacket attending the tests. “(Kim) highly appreciated the factory affecting collective innovation and leaping progress in producing major weapons,” the statement accessed by news agency AFP read.
According to the news agency, Kim Jong Un also visited a munitions factory that produces ‘a major weapon system’.
The flurry of tests, according to observers, come with the aim of engaging the Biden administration into talks with the Kim regime over the sanctions imposed on North Korea. Pyongyang, according to North Korea experts, faces a tough economic situation crippled by the sanctions and Kim’s recent moves have invited the threat of more sanctions.
Kim’s response by sabre-rattling is also defended by a friendly Beijing who blocked efforts to impose new sanctions over short-range missile tests. Kim Jong Un also hinted that the self-imposed moratorium on conducting nuclear tests and long-range tests could also be abandoned in a bid to engage Washington in diplomatic talks.
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