“Reducing a target with an area of ​​6.5 to 7 hectares to ashes”: North Korea tests a surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missile equipped with a cluster bomb warhead

According to the official KCNA news agency, North Korea this week tested a ballistic missile with a new warhead with a cluster bomb and an electromagnetic weapon.

North Korea has tested several weapons systems, notably by firing ballistic missiles, the official KCNA news agency reported on Thursday, with Pyongyang continuing to want to demonstrate its military capabilities. According to KCNA, these exercises “confirmed that the Hwasongpho-11 Ka surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missile, equipped with a cluster bomb warhead, is capable of reducing to ashes any target covering an area of ​​6.5 to 7 hectares.”

An “electromagnetic weapon system” and “dummy carbon fiber bombs” were also tested, which the KCNA described as “special means of strategic nature.”

On Wednesday, the South Korean army stressed that North Korea had again fired several ballistic missiles, continuing tests that began on Tuesday. The launches, which bring North Korea’s number of known ballistic missile tests this year to five, mark its latest rejection of Seoul’s attempts to mend ties, according to Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University.

“Hostile Enemy”

All these tests come after North Korea once again described its southern neighbor as a “hostile enemy”, dashing Seoul’s recent hopes of easing tensions on the Korean peninsula. North Korea’s Academy of Defense Sciences and Missile Administration also conducted tests of both carbon fiber bombs and a mobile short-range anti-aircraft missile system, the KCNA said. Gen. Kim Jong Sik, who oversaw the tests, said the electromagnetic weapon system and carbon fiber bombs were “special assets” for the North Korean military, according to the KCNA.

In the eyes of analysts, these tests probably respond to the desire of North Korea, a nuclear power, to show that it is not left behind in terms of advanced conventional weapons systems. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi begins a two-day visit to North Korea on Thursday. Rumors are circulating that US President Donald Trump may try to arrange a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the sidelines of his visit to China, scheduled for mid-May.