North Korea tested tactical guided missiles in latest show of force

Monday’s test, Pyongyang’s fourth round of missile launches this month, also highlighted its evolving weapons programmes

State media said the projectiles ‘precisely hit an island target’ off the country’s east coast

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North Korea test-fired two tactical guided missiles on Monday. Photo: KCNA via KNS/AFP

Published: 10:45am, 18 Jan 2022Updated: 10:47am, 18 Jan 2022

North Korea fired tactical guided missiles on Monday, state media KCNA said on Tuesday, the latest in a series of recent tests that highlighted its evolving missile programmes amid stalled denuclearisation talks.

The missile test was the North’s fourth in 2022, with two previous launches involving “hypersonic missiles” capable of high speed and manoeuvring after lift-off, and another test on Friday using a pair of SRBMs fired from train cars.

South Korea’s military said on Monday that North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) from an airport in its capital Pyongyang, which flew about 380km to a maximum altitude of 42km.

The Academy of Defence Science conducted a test of tactical guided missiles from the country’s west, and they “precisely hit an island target” off the east coast, the official KCNA news agency said on Tuesday, without elaborating.

“The test-fire was aimed to selectively evaluate tactical guided missiles being produced and deployed and to verify the accuracy of the weapon system,” KCNA said.