The new missile, named the Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5, was tipped with a 4.5-ton super-large conventional warhead in the test-firing conducted Wednesday by the North's Missile Administration, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
"Its test-fire was aimed at verifying the accuracy of hit at medium range of 320 km and explosive power of the super-large warhead with a missile loaded with such a warhead," the KCNA said.
The KCNA said the missile administration also conducted a test-fire of a strategic cruise missile whose performance has been highly upgraded for its combat use.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un guided the test-fires and expressed great satisfaction, it said.
"The military and political situation in the region threatening the present state security environment indicates that the work for bolstering up the military capability for self-defence should be the most important affair of the country," he said.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Wednesday it detected multiple short-range ballistic missile launches at about 6:50 a.m. from the North's Kaechon area in South Phyongan Province, north of Pyongyang, and the missiles flew about 400 kilometers.
Photos released by the KCNA showed a missile hitting an apparent inland target, marking the first public disclosure of its kind by the North, which has usually fired missiles into waters off its eastern and western coasts.
South Korea's military has immediately notified the media of North Korean ballistic missile launches, which are in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, but has disclosed cruise missile launches depending on the threat they pose to the South.
When asked about the North's report of the missile's range of 320 km compared with its assessment of about 400 km, the JCS stood by its analysis, clarifying it is based on the trajectory of the missile that covered the longer distance.
"North Korea revealed that it flew some 320 kilometers, but we believe there is a possibility of deception," Col. Lee Sung-jun, spokesperson of the JCS, told a regular briefing.
A super-large warhead is among a list of high-tech weapons that Kim had vowed to develop at a party congress in 2021, including a spy military satellite and solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles.
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