It is the first known test of the so-called MIRV carried out by Pyongyang, but South Korea is questioning the claim.
North Korea claims to have successfully tested a multiple-warhead missile, a sophisticated weapon that would provide it with the means to overcome missile defenses in the continental United States, after a launch that South Korea and Japan say ended in failure. .
Pyongyang “successfully carried out the separation and orientation control test of individual moving warheads” on Wednesday, state news agency KCNA reported. The separate moving warheads “were correctly guided toward the three coordinated targets,” and a decoy that separated from the missile was verified by radar.
“The test is aimed at ensuring the capability of the MIRV,” he said, referring to independent multiple target reentry vehicle technology, which allows multiple warheads to be fired on a single ballistic missile.
North Korea has been developing its weapons as leader Kim Jong Un seeks to modernize the country's military. A multi-warhead missile was among the weapons he said the country would use during a ruling party meeting in early 2021, where he also mentioned spy satellites, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons and submarine-launched missiles.
“I had been anticipating a MIRV test for some time now, as it was one of the last items left on Kim Jong Un's modernization wish list from the Eighth Party Congress in January 2021,” said Ankit Panda, senior analyst. of Carnegie. Fund for International Peace.
Panda said Wednesday's test appeared to be an initial evaluation of some of the key subsystems for developing a viable MIRV. He hoped that more tests would follow, leading to the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on an elevated trajectory.
“The presence of decoys is significant. “North Korea has made no secret of its intention to strengthen and overwhelm US missile defenses,” Panda said. “The decoys will help in that effort and will likely also be incorporated into their single-warhead missiles.”
The KCNA report came a day after South Korea's military said Pyongyang had launched a possible solid-fuel hypersonic weapon that had exploded in mid-air, while Japan reported debris had fallen into the waters off the coast. east coast of North Korea.
South Korea's military said a joint analysis with the U.S. military suggested the missile exploded in its initial stage of flight and that the weapon tested was not as described by KCNA.
“Today North Korea revealed something, but we believe it is simply a means of deception and exaggeration,” Lee Sung-joon, spokesman for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a briefing.
Photos released by North Korea purportedly from Wednesday's test were also likely fabricated or recycled photos from a previous launch, he said.
Panda said it seemed Seoul “initially misunderstood the nature of this test.”
South Korea, the United States and Japan condemned the launch as a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and a serious threat, and warned against further provocations following last week's summit between Kim Jong Un and the Russian president. Vladimir Putin, during which the two leaders signed a mutual defense pact.
Wednesday's test was the first weapons launch by North Korea since it fired multiple nuclear-capable rocket launchers to simulate a pre-emptive strike on South Korea nearly a month ago.
In recent weeks, North Korea has also launched numerous garbage-filled balloons across the border into the south, in what it has described as a tit-for-tat response to South Korean activists sending political leaflets through its own balloons. In response, South Korea briefly conducted loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts in border areas on June 9 for the first time in years.
