North Korea said it successfully tested a new tactical ballistic missile on Monday capable of carrying a 4.5-ton super-large warhead, a claim quickly disputed by South Korean officials and experts who speculate the North likely fabricated a successful test to conceal a botched launch.
A day earlier, South Korea reported the launch of two ballistic missiles by North Korea and said the second likely failed soon after launch, blowing up in flight over land.
Atate news agency KCNA said the test of the new tactical ballistic missile, named Hwasongpho-11 Da-4.5, was conducted with a simulated heavy warhead to verify flight stability and accuracy.
It did not elaborate on the nature of the simulated warhead.
North Korea's report on the missile test was likely "deception" with one of the two missiles flying abnormally and appearing to show up in a field not far from Pyongyang, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) spokesperson Colonel Lee Sung-jun told a briefing.
"Conducting a test-fire inland is extremely rare and it is highly likely to be false to claim it has succeeded," Lee said.
South Korea's military conducted artillery drills at ranges within five kms (three miles) of the Military Demarcation Line inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas on Tuesday morning, an Army official said during the briefing.
The resumption of such live-fire exercises near the border comes following the suspension of a military pact signed with Pyongyang after the North launched hundreds of balloons carried by wind across the border that dropped trash throughout South Korea.
The country's Missile Administration will conduct another launch of the same type of missile in July to test the "explosion power" of the super-large warhead, KCNA said in a rare disclosure of a future missile launch plan.
The Hwasongpho-11, or Hwasong-11, is a series of short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) developed by the North that are otherwise known as KN-23 and KN-24.
South Korea's military said on Monday the first of the two missiles launched by the North appeared to be a KN-23 that flew about 600 km (373 miles).
The KN-23 is likely the missile that North Korea has supplied to Russia and was used in the war against Ukraine, according to Ukrainian authorities who examined debris from missiles launched by Russia since December.
Some experts say test-firing missiles at ground targets could be related to efforts to test how powerful warheads are to destroy underground bunkers and structures.
But Shin Jongwoo, a Seoul-based military expert, said the lack of any photos on the launches means it’s highly likely the North is trying to deceive the outsiders to cover up Monday’s failed launches. He said North Korea likely launched an existing missile on Monday, not the new missile at it claimed.
Yang Uk, an analyst at Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said that Monday’s tests reflected North Korea’s push to acquire a variety of conventional weapons. But he also said if North Korea truly succeeded in hitting a ground target, it probably would have already published related images to brag about its achievements as it’s done in the past.
