North Korea has successfully conducted a test aimed at building multiple warhead missiles, state media agency KCNA reports.
The country said the test was carried out yesterday using the first stage of a medium-range ballistic missile with a solid propellant engine.
KCNA said the missile managed to separate its warheads during a test aimed at developing multiple independently targeting re-targeting vehicle (MIRV) technology.
“The goal was to provide the ability to destroy individual targets using multiple warheads,” the statement said.
What else happened this week?
The message came a day after South Korea’s military said North Korea had fired a hypersonic missile off its east coast that exploded in mid-air.
South Korea, the United States and Japan condemned the launch as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a grave threat, and warned of further provocations amid a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin last week.
Today, the United States, Japan and South Korea began large-scale joint military exercises involving naval destroyers, destroyers and the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, aimed at strengthening defenses against missile, submarine and air attacks.
In Putin’s first visit to North Korea in 24 years, the two leaders signed a mutual defense pact that Mr Kim hailed as an alliance but which South Korean President Yun Suk-yeol called “anachronistic”.
