Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters – North Korea launched tactical guided missiles Monday morning, according to state media KCNA. This was the latest test in a string of recent missile tests, which highlighted North Korea’s evolving programs amid stalled talks on denuclearisation.

It was North Korea’s fourth nuclear missile test in 2022. The previous two launches were made by “hypersonic rockets” that can reach high speeds after liftoff. A second test, which took place Friday, used SRBMs from train cars.

South Korea’s military stated that North Korea fired two short-range ballistic weapons (SRBMs), out of an airport in Pyongyang. They flew for 380 km (236 mi) and reached a maximum altitude 42 km (26 mi).

A test of the Academy of Defence Science’s tactical guided missiles was conducted from the west. They “precisely struck an island target” just off the coast of the East Coast, according to the official KCNA news agency, but without elaborating.

“The purpose of the test-fire was to selectly assess tactical guided missiles being made and deployed, and to verify accuracy of the weapon systems,” KCNA stated.

The test “confirmed accuracy, security, and efficiency in the operation of weapon systems under production.”

U.S. condemned the unusually fast sequence of launches and called for additional sanctions. Pyongyang, however, warns that stronger action is needed and raises the possibility of an escalation to 2017’s “fire and fury”.

Both parties engaged in intense diplomacy in 2018, but the denuclearization negotiations fell apart after a failed summit in 2019.

North Korea tested the Hwasong-12 intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM), at Sunan airport in 2017. Kim Jong Un was there.

Kim didn’t attend the last test.