SEOUL: North Korea on Monday announced it had developed a new system for a multiple rocket launcher that would lead to a qualitative change in its defense abilities.
State news agency KCNA reported that Pyongyang’s Academy of Defense Science successfully conducted ballistic control test firing of 240-mm caliber multiple rocket launcher shells to develop a ballistic control system for the system.
The KCNA said the new rocket launcher would be reevaluated while its battlefield role is increased.
Nuclear-armed North Korea this year declared South Korea as its main enemy, closing agencies aimed to reunification while threatening war over even 0.001 millimetres of territorial breach.
- Korean Leader Kim Jong Un on Friday said that Pyongyang would not hesitate to wipe out South Korea if attacked, terming Seoul the North’s first and most dangerous enemy.
In January, North Korea fired an artillery barrage near two South Korean islands, sparking a live-fire drill by the South Korea.
Kim has also intensified weapons testing, including this year’s launch of a flurry of cruise missiles, which analysts believed the North could be supplying to Russia to be used in war against Ukraine.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has vowed a strong response if Pyongyang strikes ordering his military to act first and report later if provoked.
Yoon has increased defense cooperation with the United States and Japan since assuming office in 2022, including expanding joint exercises, to counter Pyongyang’s growing threats.
