North Korea says it tested multiwarhead missile, Seoul rejects claim

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Thursday it effectively test-fired a multiwarhead missile in the first known deployment of a developmental weapon coveted by leader Kim Jong Un to overwhelm U.S. and South Korean missile defenses. . South Korea temporarily dismissed the claim as a hoax to defend a failing institution.

North Korea’s environmental media said the entity on Wednesday tested the separation and guidance control of individual mobile warheads to protect the capability of multiple separate reentry vehicles. It said the separated warheads were “correctly guided to three coordinated targets” and that a decoy detached from the missile was verified via radar.

If shown, it could be North Korea’s first nation to set up a tournament that matches its multiwarhead missile progress, even if at a preliminary level.

South Korea’s military said Thursday that a joint study by the South Korean and US governments showed that a North Korean missile test had failed.

Lee Sung Joon, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Personnel, told Newshounds that in MIRV tests the warheads are fired in the descent stages but the North Korean missile exploded in the initial stages of its takeoff. He said North Korean photos of the installation confirmed a weapon similar to the liquid-fueled Hwasong-17 ICBM, which the country tested in March 2023.

South Korean Army last assessment A suspected solid-fueled hypersonic missile was launched on Wednesday and exploded off the North’s east coast, spewing fragments into H2O. It said it found more smoke than typical launches, suggesting a possible combustion factor due to engine failure.

The multiwarhead missile was among the high-tech guns Kim listed on his wish list during a ruling party meeting in early 2021, along with undercover agent satellites, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic guns and submarine-launched nuclear weapons. Was quoted with. Missiles. North Korea has since conducted a series of tests to create such gun technology.

Ankit Panda, a senior analyst at Carnegie, said, “I have been anticipating the MIRV test for some time, as it was one of the last remaining items on Kim Jong Un’s modernization wish list from the 8th Party Congress in January 2021.” Endowment for Global Vacation.

Panda said Wednesday’s study appears to be a preliminary analysis of one of the most important sub-systems for building a practical MIRV. He is looking forward to successive generation tests for the exercise, which is also important for establishing an intercontinental ballistic missile on an elevated trajectory. Panda said it appeared that “South Korea initially misinterpreted the nature of this test.”

Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea’s Science and Era Coverage Institute, said North Korea appears to have begun testing individual technical parts of multiwarhead missiles. He said additional tests are expected to best complete the development and guidance control and various aspects of multiwarhead missile manufacturing.

Chang Young-kyun, a missile expert at the Korea Research Institute for National Techniques in Seoul, said North Korean studies have not yet proven it has the sufficient MIRV control technologies needed for an ICBM. He noted that North Korea did not release much data to ensure that its MIRVs successfully met specified atmospheric reentry and crash objectives.

Panda said the presence of a decoy in the North Korean study is significant. However, South Korea’s military said it could not immediately determine whether North Korea had the technology to make such a decoy.

“North Korea has made no secret of its intention to pressure and overwhelm U.S. homeland missile defenses,” Panda said. “Decoys will aid in that effort and will likely also be incorporated into their single-warhead missiles.”

The North Korean study, its first gun display at an event, came as the country protested the regional deployment of a US aircraft carrier for inaugural joint training with South Korea and Japan. North Korea’s vice defense minister, Kim Kang Il, on Monday described the provider’s deployment as “reckless” and threatened unspecified responses.

Multidomain South Korea-US-Japan training began on Thursday for a three-day round, South Korea’s military said. It said the “Freedom Edge” exercise will mobilize destroyers, fighter jets and helicopters from the three countries in addition to the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. Learning will include missile defence, anti-submarine and maritime interdiction exercises.

In recent weeks, North Korea has also emerged as diverse Garbage Balloons On the South Korean side, it has been described as a tit-for-tat response to South Korean activists sending political leaflets through their balloons. In response, South Korea held a brief demonstration on June 9. propaganda loudspeaker In the Border Gardens for the first day in years. South Korea said on Thursday it would turn on loudspeakers again if North Korea helps North Korea by continuing sending garbage balloons.

Concerns about the future of North Korea deepened when Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement Every nation needs trade Vowed to delegate support to alternatives and promote alternative cooperation even if it is attacked. Analysts say the agreement represents the strongest relationship between the two countries since the end of the Cold War.

Professional Lee noted that how quickly North Korea can complete the development of multiwarhead weapons depends on whether or not the generation of Russian supplies to North Korea helps. South Korea’s military has noted that the North Korean MIRV program has not shown Russian help.