missile test
North Korea fires two long-range cruise missiles
North Korea’s ruler Kim Jong Un is said to have witnessed the launch of two rockets. photo
© Uncredited/KCNA via KNS via AP/dpa
Pyongyang has been conducting missile tests at an unusually high frequency since the end of September. North Korean media reports that ruler Kim Jong Un is said to have attended another shooting down on Wednesday.
North Korea has continued its series of missile tests despite international protests. As the state news agency KCNA reported, ruler Kim Jong Un witnessed the launch of two long-range cruise missiles on Wednesday. These took off from the western province of South Pyongan in the direction of the Yellow Sea and, after a flight duration of around ten seconds, hit their targets 2,000 kilometers away.
According to the KCNA, the rocket launch was intended to test the “quick reaction capability of the nuclear combat force”. However, experts question whether the rockets fired on Wednesday are technically capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
The North Korean military has been conducting missile tests at an unusually high frequency since the end of September. At the beginning of the month, Pyongyang also launched a medium-range missile over the Japanese archipelago for the first time in five years.
UN resolutions prohibit North Korea from testing ballistic missiles of any range, which, depending on the design, can also carry a nuclear warhead.