North Korea’s Latest Missile Test Suggests Arms Race With South

Asia Pacific|North Korea’s Latest Missile Test Suggests Arms Race With South

North Korea said connected Tuesday that it had tested a caller ballistic rocket with a “super-large warhead,” the astir caller improvement successful an arms race with South Korea arsenic the countries vie to present weapons of progressively destructive power.

Two of the caller missiles, known arsenic the Hwasong-11Da-4.5, were launched connected Monday, each with a dummy warhead that weighed 4.5 tons, the North’s authoritative Korean Central News Agency said. ​Ballistic missiles often transportation warheads that measurement little than a ton.

South Korea already has akin missiles that tin present ample warheads. Col. Lee Sung-jun, a spokesperson for the South’s military, said the North’s Hwasong-11 bid missiles were believed to beryllium susceptible of carrying payloads of fractional a ton to 2.5 tons, but that it was “theoretically possible” to modify them to present a 4.5-ton payload.

But Colonel Lee accused North Korea of deceptively exaggerating its capabilities successful the Tuesday report. One of the 2 missiles the North launched connected Monday crashed successful an bare tract aft an “abnormal” flight, helium said.

The United States has accused North Korea of supplying Hwasong-11 missiles to Russia for usage against Ukraine. ​Both Pyongyang and Moscow person denied trading successful arms, which would interruption United Nations Security Council resolutions imposed connected the North due to the fact that of its atomic weapons program.

The motorboat Monday was the 2nd large weapons trial reported by the North since its leader, Kim Jong-un, hosted President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for talks successful Pyongyang connected June 19. Last week, North Korea claimed for the archetypal time that it had tested exertion for launching respective atomic warheads with a azygous missile; the South formed uncertainty connected that report, too.