“New Type Guided Missile”
North Korea is testing a new nuclear weapons system
04/17/2022, 01:35 am
Pyongyang has not tested any nuclear warheads since 2017. Now the state news agency KCNA reports that North Korea has tested a new weapon system to increase the efficiency of its nuclear weapons. Photos show dictator Kim Jong Un applauding the test launch.
North Korea says it has tested a new weapon system that will increase the effectiveness of its tactical nuclear weapons. The “new type of tactical guided missile” is of “great importance for drastically improving the firepower of artillery units at the front and increasing the efficiency of the use of tactical nuclear weapons,” reported the state news agency KCNA.
According to this, ruler Kim Jong Un was present at the test. It was initially unclear when exactly it took place. However, Kim did give a military research team “important instructions on how to further expand defense capacities and nuclear combat troops,” KCNA reported. Photos released by Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed a grinning Kim applauding as he watched the weapon’s test firing.
The US recently warned of a possible North Korean nuclear weapons test around North Korea’s national day on April 15. Pyongyang has not tested any nuclear weapons since 2017. Most recently, however, ruler Kim had a whole series of missile tests carried out, and the military also fired an ICBM for the first time since 2017. Satellite images also show signs of new activity in a tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site.
North Korea has tested nuclear weapons six times since 2006
North Korea recently threatened South Korea with the use of nuclear weapons in the event of a pre-emptive attack. The country celebrated the 110th birthday of republic founder Kim Il Sung on Friday with a grand public procession, fireworks and synchronized dancing, but without the usual military parade.
North Korea has tested nuclear weapons six times since 2006, and in 2017 announced the success of its latest and most powerful test – a hydrogen bomb with an estimated yield of 250 kilotons. Experts assume that Pyongyang is now concentrating on making the warheads smaller so that they can be mounted on its ICBMs.