North Korea says its latest tests included missiles armed with cluster-bomb warheads

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Thursday said its testing spree this week involved various new weapons systems, including ballistic missiles armed with cluster-bomb warheads, as it pushes to expand nuclear-capable forces aimed at rival South Korea.

The report by North Korean state media came a day after South Korea’s military said it detected North Korea firing multiple missiles from an eastern coastal area in its second round of launches in two days.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said the tests lasted three days starting Monday and also included demonstrations of anti-aircraft weapons, purported electromagnetic weapons systems and carbon-fiber bombs.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles launched Wednesday flew 240 to 700 kilometers (150 to 434 miles) before falling into the sea, and that it also detected at least one projectile launched Tuesday from an area near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.

Japan’s Defense Ministry said none of the weapons fired Wednesday entered waters within its exclusive economic zone, while the U.S. military said the North Korean launches on Tuesday and Wednesday posed no immediate threat to the United States or its allies.

KCNA said the latest tests included demonstrations of cluster-munition warhead systems mounted on the nuclear-capable Hwasong-11 ballistic missiles, which resemble Russia’s Iskander missiles in their design for low-altitude, maneuverable flight to evade missile defense systems. The report said the launches confirmed that the short-range missile, when armed with such warheads, “can reduce to ashes any target covering an area of 6.5-7 hectares (16 to 17.2 acres) with the highest-density power.”

South Korea’s military did not immediately comment on the North Korean military claims.

The launches underscored continuing tensions between the Koreas, blunting South Korean hopes for warmer relations.

In a statement Tuesday night, Jang Kum Chol, a first vice minister at Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry, said South Korea would always remain the North’s “most hostile enemy state” and mocked Seoul’s liberal government for seeking to revive restore long-stalled dialogue, calling its officials “world-startling fools.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has suspended virtually all diplomacy with Seoul and Washington since the collapse of his nuclear talks with President Donald Trump in 2019, and has since accelerated the development of nuclear-capable missiles that threaten U.S. allies in Asia as well as the U.S. mainland.

Kim has also pursued closer ties with Russia, China and other countries embroiled in confrontations with the United States as he looks to break out of isolation and strengthen his regional footing. North Korean state media says Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will arrive in the country on Thursday for a two-day trip in the latest round of diplomacy between the countries.