North Korea said it conducted a test in which a cluster warhead was mounted on the short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) ‘Hwasong-11Ga’ (KN-23) and launched.

Korean Central News Agency on the 9th disclosed that over three days from the 6∼8th, the Academy of National Defense Science and the Missile General Bureau carried out a series of ‘tests of important weapon systems’.

The outlet said, “The Ballistic Missile System Research Institute and the Warhead Research Institute under the Missile General Bureau conducted tests on the combat applicability of a dispersal (cluster) warhead for a tactical ballistic missile and an evaluation of the power of the submunitions,” and stated that “with the dispersal warhead of the ground-to-ground tactical ballistic missile ‘Hwasongpo-11Ga’ type, it was confirmed that a target area of 6.5∼7㏊ can be turned to ashes at ultra-strong density.”

This is interpreted to mean a test in which a cluster warhead was mounted on a missile of the ‘North Korean Iskander’ KN-23 series, the country’s representative short-range ballistic missile, to deliver high-density strikes on a target area.

The outlet also said, “A firing was conducted to test the maximum working load of an engine using low-cost materials.”

The outlet said the Missile General Bureau’s Anti-Air (Air-Defense) Weapon System Research Directorate conducted a test to verify the combat reliability of a mobile short-range anti-air (air-defense) missile complex.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the previous day North Korea launched several short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) toward the East Sea from the Wonsan area at around 8:50 a.m., and about 5 hours and 30 minutes later, at 2:20 p.m., it also fired one ballistic missile toward the East Sea.

Earlier, on the 7th, it launched an unidentified projectile eastward from the Pyongyang area, which is assessed to have disappeared after showing abnormal signs in the early stage of flight.

Kim Jeong-sik, first deputy department director of the Workers’ Party who guided the tests, said, “Electromagnetic weapons and carbon-fiber warheads are special assets of strategic character that will be combined with and applied to various military means in multiple domains.”

The outlet said the Missile General Bureau “asserted that the above tests, which have very great significance in the development of our armed forces, are part of the bureau’s and its subordinate national defense scientific research institutions’ regular activities to constantly develop and update weapon systems.”

The day’s report made no mention of State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un observing the tests. North Korea did not carry news of these weapons-system experiments in domestic media that reach residents, such as Korean Central Broadcasting radio and the Workers’ Party organ Rodong Sinmun.