North Korea tested weapon systems over three days this week, including the firing of ballistic missiles and cluster bombs, its state media said on Thursday.
A mobile short-range anti-aircraft missile system was also included in the tests, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
The trials took place Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, as part of regular efforts to develop and upgrade weapons systems, KCNA said.
South Korea’s military reported earlier that North Korea had fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles in two rounds on Wednesday, and an “unidentified projectile” the previous day.
According to KCNA, the exercises “confirmed that the surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missile Hwasongpho-11 Ka tipped with the cluster bomb warhead can reduce to ashes any target covering an area of 6.5-7 hectares”.
Cluster munitions disperse dozens or even hundreds of smaller submunitions over a wide area, making them controversial because of the long-term risks they pose to civilians.
Also tested were an “electromagnetic weapon system” and “carbon fiber sham bombs scattering” that KCNA described as “special assets of strategic nature”.
The launches also involved the use of “low-cost materials” to examine the “maximum workload of the engine”, it added.
South Korea’s military said Wednesday a short-range missile fired in the second round of launches in the day flew more than 700 kilometres (434 miles).
It followed an earlier launch of multiple short-range ballistic missiles towards the East Sea — also known as the Sea of Japan — which flew around 240 kilome
tres.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was not reported to have attended the trials.
No photos of the launches have yet been released by official media.
