North Korea tests new weapon bolstering nuclear capability

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has test-fired a new type of tactical guided weapon designed to boost its nuclear fighting capability, state media reported Sunday, a day before its chief rivals the United States and South Korea begin annual drills that the North views as an invasion rehearsal.

The 13th weapons test this year came amid concerns that North Korea may soon conduct an even larger provocation . That may include a nuclear test in an effort to expand the country’s arsenal and increase pressure on Washington and Seoul while denuclearization talks remain stalled.

The official Korean Central News Agency said leader Kim Jong Un observed what it called the weapon’s successful launch. It released a photo showing a beaming Kim clapping his hands with military officers.

This undated photo provided Sunday, April 17, 2022, by the North Korean government shows its leader Kim Jong Un at an undisclosed location in North Korea. It said Sunday the country has successfully test-launched a newly developed tactical guided weapon. The official Korean Central News Agency said Kim observed the launch. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

KCNA said the weapon tested has “great significance in drastically improving the firepower of the front-line long-range artillery units, enhancing the efficiency in the operation of (North Korea’s) tactical nukes and diversification of their firepower missions.”

KCNA didn’t elaborate, but its use of the words “tactical nukes” suggested the weapon is likely capable of carrying a nuclear warhead that could hit strategic targets in South Korea, including U.S. military installations. The KCNA dispatch didn’t say when and where the launch occurred.

“North Korea is trying to deploy not only long-range nuclear missiles aimed at American cities but also tactical nuclear weapons to threaten Seoul and U.S. bases in Asia,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

“Pyongyang’s purposes likely exceed deterrence and regime survival. Like Russia employs the fear it could use tactical nukes, North Korea may want such weapons for political coercion, battlefield escalation and limiting the willingness of other countries to intervene in a conflict,” he said.

Some observers said the weapon showed in North Korean photos suggested it might be a smaller, lighter version of its nuclear-capable KN-23 missile that has a highly maneuverable flight aimed at defeating missile defense systems. Others said it could be a new missile that combines the technical characteristics of the KN-23 and another short-range ballistic missile called the KN-24.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it had detected two launches from the North’s eastern coastal town of Hamhung early Saturday evening.

It said the missiles flew about 110 kilometers (68 miles) at an altitude of 25 kilometers (16 miles) and a maximum speed of Mach 4. South Korea’s presidential office said officials have met twice this weekend to discuss the North Korean military activities.

South Korea’s military said later Sunday that its nine-day springtime drills with the United States will start on Monday. It said the allies decided to hold computer-simulated command post exercises that don’t involve field training after reviewing factors like the COVID-19 pandemic and the allies’ combined defense readiness.

The exercises could further intensify animosities on the Korean Peninsula because North Korea has previously responded with its own weapons tests and fiery rhetoric.

North Korea has started this year with a slew of weapons tests, including its first flight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. homeland since 2017. South Korea recently said it has detected signs that North Korea is rebuilding tunnels at a nuclear testing ground it partially dismantled weeks before it entered now-dormant nuclear talks with the United States in 2018.

A possible nuclear test by North Korea would involve a tactical nuclear warhead, said analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea. He predicted that North Korea would push to mount a tactical nuclear warhead on the weapon tested this weekend and deploy such nuclear missiles near the border with South Korea.

“North Korea has a domestic imperative to make and perfect weapons ordered by Kim Jong Un last year regardless of what the U.S. does or doesn’t do. The test also tells his people that their country is strong despite their apparent economic difficulties,” said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at Washington’s Center for a New American Security. “One reason for the political timing could be to protest anticipated U.S.-South Korea military drills.”

On Friday, Kim attended a massive civilian parade in Pyongyang that marked the milestone 110th birthday of his state-founding grandfather, Kim Il Sung. It appeared the country passed its most important national holiday without a highly anticipated military parade to showcase its new weapons systems.

Kim may still hold a military parade on the April 25 founding anniversary of North Korea’s army. But if that anniversary goes without a military parade again, some experts say that might mean Kim doesn’t have new powerful missiles to display and that his next provocative step will likely be a nuclear test.

Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.

韩国首尔——据朝鲜官方媒体周日报道，朝鲜试射了一种新型战术制导武器，旨在提升其核作战能力。就在一天后，朝鲜的主要对手美国和韩国将开始一年一度的联合军演，朝鲜认为这是入侵演习。

朝鲜今年的第13次武器试验正值外界担忧其可能很快会进行更大规模的挑衅之际。这可能包括核试验，以期扩大朝鲜的武器库，并在无核化谈判陷入僵局之际加大对华盛顿和首尔的压力。

朝鲜官方通讯社朝中社报道称，最高领导人金正恩视察了此次武器发射，并称发射成功。朝中社还发布了一张照片，照片中金正恩笑容满面地与军官们鼓掌。

这张由朝鲜政府于2022年4月17日（星期日）提供的照片未注明拍摄日期，照片显示朝鲜领导人金正恩在朝鲜境内一处未公开地点。朝鲜政府当天宣布，该国已成功试射了一种新研制的战术制导武器。朝鲜中央通讯社报道称，金正恩视察了此次发射。（朝鲜中央通讯社/韩国新闻社，经美联社发布）

朝中社称，此次测试的武器“对于大幅提升前线远程炮兵部队的火力、提高（朝鲜）战术核武器的作战效率以及使其火力任务多样化具有重大意义”。

朝中社没有详细说明，但其使用“战术核武器”一词表明，该武器很可能能够携带核弹头，打击韩国境内的战略目标，包括美军设施。朝中社的报道没有说明发射的时间和地点。

“朝鲜不仅试图部署瞄准美国城市的远程核导弹，还试图部署战术核武器来威胁首尔和美国在亚洲的基地，”首尔梨花女子大学教授李福-埃里克·伊斯利说。

他说：“平壤的目的可能不仅仅是威慑和政权生存。就像俄罗斯利用恐惧心理使用战术核武器一样，朝鲜可能也希望拥有这类武器，用于政治胁迫、战场升级以及限制其他国家干预冲突的意愿。”

一些观察人士表示，朝鲜照片中展示的武器可能是其可携带核弹头的KN-23导弹的小型轻量化版本，该导弹具有高机动性，旨在突破导弹防御系统。另一些人则认为，这可能是一种新型导弹，融合了KN-23和另一种名为KN-24的短程弹道导弹的技术特性。

韩国联合参谋本部在一份声明中表示，他们于周六傍晚早些时候探测到朝鲜东部沿海城市咸兴发射了两枚火箭。

声明称，导弹飞行距离约为110公里（68英里），飞行高度为25公里（16英里），最大速度为4马赫。韩国总统府表示，官员们本周末已举行两次会议，讨论朝鲜的军事活动。

韩国军方周日晚些时候表示，与美国为期九天的春季联合军演将于周一开始。军方称，双方在评估了新冠疫情和盟军联合防御战备情况等因素后，决定举行不涉及实地训练的计算机模拟指挥所演习。

这些演习可能会进一步加剧朝鲜半岛的敌对情绪，因为朝鲜此前曾以武器试验和激烈的言辞作为回应。

今年年初，朝鲜进行了一系列武器试验，包括自 2017 年以来首次试射能够打到美国本土的洲际弹道导弹。韩国最近表示，已发现迹象表明朝鲜正在重建其在 2018 年与美国进行现已陷入停滞的核谈判前几周部分拆除的核试验场隧道。

韩国世宗研究所分析师郑成昌表示，朝鲜可能的核试验将使用战术核弹头。他预测，朝鲜会力图将战术核弹头安装在周末试射的武器上，并在朝韩边境附近部署此类核导弹。

“无论美国采取什么行动，朝鲜都有制造和完善金正恩去年下令生产的武器的国内迫切需求。这次试验也向朝鲜人民表明，尽管经济形势看似严峻，但他们的国家依然强大，”华盛顿新美国安全中心高级分析师金杜妍（Duyeon Kim）表示。“选择这个政治时机进行试验的一个原因可能是为了抗议预期中的美韩联合军演。”

周五，金正恩出席了在平壤举行的盛大阅兵式，纪念其祖父、朝鲜建国者金日成诞辰110周年。朝鲜似乎在最重要的国庆节当天，没有举行备受期待的阅兵式来展示其新型武器系统。

金正恩或许仍会在4月25日朝鲜人民军建军纪念日举行阅兵式。但如果今年的纪念日再次没有举行阅兵式，一些专家表示，这可能意味着金正恩没有新的强力导弹可以展示，而他下一步的挑衅行动很可能是核试验。

美联社记者金东亨对本报道亦有贡献。