Officials and analysts say North Korea could conduct its seventh nuclear test in the coming weeks.
Officials and analysts say North Korea could conduct its seventh nuclear test in the coming weeks.
North Korea has tested a new weapons system overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, which it claims will boost the efficiency of its strategic nuclear weapons, state media said early Sunday.
“New types of tactical guided weapons … are of great importance to significantly improve the firepower of front-line long-range artillery units and increase efficiency in tactical nuclear operations,” the official said. Korean Central News Agency Reported, without specifying when the test took place.
Said the test was successful.
The report said Kim gave a military research team “important instructions to advance defense capabilities and nuclear combat forces”.
Photos taken by Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed Kim smiling – surrounded by uniformed officers – applauding what he said was a test-firing of the weapon.
On Friday, North Korea marked the birthday of Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s founding leader, with a massive public procession, fireworks and synchronized dancing – but no military parade as predicted by many observers.
Analysts and South Korean and US officials also thought a nuclear test was possible on the important anniversary.
The anniversary was celebrated three weeks after North Korea conducted its largest ever intercontinental ballistic missile test – the first time since 2017 that Kim’s most powerful weapon was fully fired.
The test was the culmination of a record-breaking attack this year on breaching sanctions and signaled the end of self-imposed moratoriums on long-range and nuclear tests.
Kim has stymied long-distance and nuclear tests since meeting with then-US President Donald Trump for a disastrous diplomacy that collapsed in 2019.
Officials and analysts say North Korea could conduct its seventh nuclear test in the coming weeks.
Satellite imagery has shown signs of new activity in a tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, which North Korea said was demolished in 2018 ahead of the first Trump-Kim summit.
North Korea has tested nuclear weapons six times since 2006 and in 2017 claimed the success of its last and most powerful one, a hydrogen bomb with an estimated yield of 250 kilotons.
With a new nuclear test, experts say Pyongyang will try to scale down nuclear warheads to mount on its ICBMs.
South Korean officials have said Pyongyang may still hold a military parade or test weapons on or around April 25, the anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army.
That anniversary coincides with a joint military exercise between Seoul and Washington, which is set to begin on Monday.
South Korea and the United States hold regular military exercises, but Pyongyang has long opposed the exercises as a rehearsal for war.