North Korea Confirms Type Of Missile Launched, Kim Jong-un Visits Strategic Ammunition Factory

North Korean missile test. (Source: KCNA)

JAKARTA - North Korea tested an upgraded long-range cruise missile and warhead of a tactical missile this week, as leader Kim Jong-un visited an munitions factory that manufactures key weapons systems, state media KCNA said Friday.

Tensions have simmered over a series of six North Korean weapons tests by 2022, among the largest number of missile launches to have been carried out in a month, prompting condemnation and a fresh push for sanctions from the United States.

An update to the long-range cruise missile system was tested on Tuesday, and another test was held to confirm the strength of the conventional warhead for the surface-to-surface tactical guided missile on Thursday, KCNA said.

Leader Kim did not attend the test, but during a visit to the munitions factory, he praised the soaring progress in producing the main weapon, to implement the ruling Labor Party's decision made at last month's meeting, KCNA said.

"This factory holds a very important position and task in modernizing the country's armed forces and realizing the national defense development strategy," Kim said.

KCNA did not specify the weapons or factory locations. Kim called for strengthening national defense to address the unstable international situation at the party gathering.

Last week, North Korea said it would step up its defenses against the United States, considering resuming all temporarily suspended activities, signaling to lift its self-declared moratorium on nuclear bomb and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) testing.

At the factory, Kim called for an all-out effort to produce powerful cutting-edge weapons and his workers praised his dedication to crushing the US imperialist challenge, along with their vassal forces seeking to violate North Korea's right to self-defense, calling it the toughest hardship ever.

Pyongyang has defended missile launches as its sovereign right of self-defense, accusing Washington and Seoul of pursuing a hostile policy and double standards on weapons testing.

No ICBMs or nuclear weapons have been tested in North Korea since 2017, but a spate of short-range missile launches began amid stalled denuclearization talks following a failed summit with the United States in 2019.

In Tuesday's test, two long-range cruise missiles flew 1,800 km (1,118.5 miles) for 9,137 seconds, hitting a target island off the east coast, demonstrating practical combat performance, KCNA praised.

The two tactical missiles tested on Thursday also hit their targets and proved the explosive power of their warheads as designed.

The country "will continue to develop powerful warheads capable of performing combat functions and missions," KCNA added.

A KCNA photo dated Tuesday shows a long-range missile launched from an erector-carrier launcher, gushing flames, before setting off a fire on an island. Another batch of images from Thursday showed the short-range missile rising into the sky above a cloud of dust and then hitting an island.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected both tests, and a short-range missile fired from the east coast city of Hamhung traveled about 190 km (118 miles) to an altitude of 20 km (12.4 miles).

So far this month, North Korea has also tested tactical missiles, two "hypersonic missiles" capable of high speed and maneuverability after takeoff and a rail-carried missile system.