Asia-Pacific
North Korea claims it tested a cluster warhead on a cruise missile, its second in three days
Pyongyang’s KCNA says a medium-sized cluster warhead was tested on a strategic cruise missile on November 2, after a similar test on a tactical ballistic missile on October 31. Seoul declined to confirm the launches.
North Korea announced that it tested a medium-sized cluster warhead on a strategic cruise missile. The test took place on Monday, November 2, and was announced on the morning of Tuesday, November 3 by the state news agency KCNA. It is the second announcement of such a test within three days, after a similar test of a cluster warhead on a tactical ballistic missile.
Pyongyang claims the warhead “can turn to ashes” an area of 5 to 6 hectares, with “the maximum power density”. KCNA says the country’s Missile Command evaluated the warhead’s destructive power and the missile’s flight characteristics in a vertical strike against a target. The Cruise Missile Systems Institute separately announced that it had completed the development of vertical-strike technology, after designers improved the missile’s manoeuvrability in the terminal phase of flight, taking into account the physical and geographical characteristics of the terrain.
What the images show
A collage of four KCNA photographs shows a cruise missile resembling the Hwasal or Pulhwasal series flying low, followed by an explosion in the air and the dispersal of dozens of small munitions, NK News writes. A cluster warhead opens over the target and scatters smaller munitions over a large area. In a statement published by KCNA, General Kim Yong Sik said that developing a variety of weapon systems is more urgent than ever and that the test demonstrated the system’s combat capabilities, which he described as essential for defending the country against possible threats and strengthening its army.
On Saturday, October 31, North Korea had tested a cluster warhead for a tactical ballistic missile, with a coverage of 12 to 13 hectares, as Pyongyang claimed, as we reported at the time. Pyongyang has announced the development of four categories of such munitions and a plan to equip its units with them, according to their combat missions, with the ability to use them by the end of 2026.
Seoul’s response
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff declined to confirm the launches. Its spokesman, Captain Chang Do-young, said on Tuesday that confirming any launch would reveal Seoul’s response capabilities or assets and that the military does not want to “show its cards” to North Korea. He explained that, unlike ballistic missiles, cruise missiles fly at relatively low speed and altitude and use the curvature of the Earth to avoid terrain, so detecting them from long distances can under certain conditions be limited.
Nevertheless, he stressed, South Korea has sufficient detection and response capabilities if the North fires cruise missiles towards southern territory, and Seoul has for decades had fully operational precision-strike systems that exceed what Pyongyang claims to have achieved with its cluster weapons. US Forces Korea referred the request for comment to Pacific Command in Hawaii, which said it does not discuss specific intelligence-collection capabilities, detection timelines or operational assessments, and that its priority remains the defence of the US and its allies, in close cooperation with South Korea to maintain readiness. For the wider escalation, see also our report on Kim Jong Un’s drone exhibition.
