North Korea test-fires ‘strategic’ long-range cruise missile with possible nuclear capability
- The missile is a weapon of ‘great significance’ in meeting the target of the five-year plan to develop the country’s weapon system, state media reported
- Last week, North Korea staged its first military-style parade since Joe Biden became US president, with leader Kim Jong-un presiding over the event
The missiles are “a strategic weapon of great significance” and flew 1,500km (930 miles) before hitting their targets and falling into the country’s territorial waters during the tests on Saturday and Sunday, KCNA said.
The latest test highlighted steady progress in Pyongyang’s weapons programme amid gridlock over talks aimed at dismantling its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes in return for US sanctions relief. The talks have stalled since 2019.
North Korea’s cruise missiles usually generate less interest than ballistic missiles because they are not explicitly banned under UN. Nations Security Council Resolutions.
“This would be the first cruise missile in North Korea to be explicitly designated a ‘strategic’ role,” said Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “This is a common euphemism for nuclear-capable system.”
It is unclear whether North Korea has mastered the technology needed to build warheads small enough to be carried on a cruise missile, but leader Kim Jong-un said earlier this year that developing smaller bombs is a top goal.