A picture on a TV at Seoul Railway Station displays North Korea's missile launch, seen during a news broadcast on Saturday, April 20, 2024. (Photo credit: AP/Ahn Young-joon)
In South Korea, North Korea made an announcement on Saturday about testing a big missile warhead and a new missile to counter aircraft, showing off its military strength amidst rising tensions with the United States and South Korea.
The North Korean state media reported that on Friday, they carried out a "power test" for a warhead intended for the Hwasal-1 Ra-3 cruise missile and also test-fired the Pyoljji-1-2 anti-aircraft missile. They mentioned that these tests achieved a specific goal, although they didn't say exactly what.
Pictures released by North Korea's official news agency showed at least two missiles being launched from trucks on a runway.
Similar tests were done on February 2nd, but back then, they didn't mention the names of the missiles. This suggests that they might be making progress in their technology after testing the same system for a while.
North Korea emphasized that these tests were just part of their usual military development and weren't related to the current situation around them.
Tensions in the Korean Peninsula are the highest they've been in years, with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, showing off more and more powerful weapons, some aimed at the U.S. mainland and targets in the Pacific. In response, the United States, South Korea, and Japan are ramping up their joint military exercises and improving their strategies to stop attacks, especially using important U.S. military resources.
Cruise missiles are part of North Korea's growing collection of weapons meant to get around defenses in the region. These missiles join their many ballistic missiles, including ones that can reach the United States.
Experts think North Korea might be getting help with anti-aircraft missile technology from Russia. The two countries are getting closer in response to their separate conflicts with the United States. There have been accusations that North Korea is giving military equipment to Russia to help them in the fighting in Ukraine.
