Photo : YONHAP News / Korean Central News Agency
North Korea says it tested a major new combat weapons system with leader Kim Jong-un in attendance on Sunday, the same day South Korea’s military said the North launched two short-range ballistic missiles.
The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday that the North’s Missile Administration successfully tested the new weapons system on Sunday, calling it a significant advance in weapons system technology.
The report quoted Kim as saying the test demonstrated cutting-edge defense technology and a significant advance in military modernization.
Kim said acquiring such technology holds great significance in terms of a nation’s readiness for war and the future development of its military capabilities.
Observers say that remark may be a claim that Pyongyang’s hypersonic missile technology has effectively reached the final stages of development.
The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, disclosed several pictures as it reported on Sunday’s test, with some of the photos showing Kim and his daughter Ju-ae looking at a monitor displaying the words “Hwasong-11Ma-1 flight path.”
The Hwasong-11Ma system is one that North Korea has previously described as hypersonic.
In Seoul, Joint Chiefs of Staff public affairs chief Jang Do-young said the North’s claims and propaganda cannot be trusted 100 percent.
Earlier, the Joint Chiefs announced that the North had launched two short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area toward the East Sea on Sunday, three hours apart.