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North Korea has said it test-fired an upgraded tactical guided missile, which South Korean and Japanese military earlier described as a short-range ballistic missile. The launch was Pyongyang’s second in a week.
The test-fire was carried out on Thursday, according to the state-affiliated KNCA,
Two of the new munitions were tested, which are said to use improved solid fuel engines and heavierwarheads weighing 2.5 tons.
The projectiles “accurately hit the target set in waters 600 kilometers off the east coast of Korea,” the report said, adding that the test was overseen by Ri Pyong Chol, a member of the political bureau of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party.
#NorthKorea have released an image of their new missile, which is an improved version of their tactical guided missiles, the weight of its warhead has been increased to 2.5 tonnes while using the same core technology. pic.twitter.com/akXAD2PhVc
— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) March 25, 2021
The missiles were reportedly fired from North Korea’s South Hamgyong province, and flew some 450 kilometers (280 miles) before plunging into the Sea of Japan, according to the earlier estimates by the South Korean military.
The Thursday launch came just four days after what North Korea fired two short-range cruise missiles into the Yellow Sea, between the Korean Peninsula and China.
While cruise missiles launches are not explicitly banned under the scope of the UN resolutions on North Korea, testing of ballistic missiles is prohibited.
Shortly after Pyongyang confirmed the new launch, Washington condemned the reclusive nation’s increased rocket activity, denouncing the tests as “destabilizing.”
“These launches violate multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and threaten the region and the broader international community,” a spokesman for the US State Department stated.
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