North Korea announced that it has test-fired a new anti-air missile into the East Sea and conducted demonstration firepower drills for long-range strategic cruise missiles.
Missile Bureau Conducts New Anti-Air Test
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on the 5th that the Missile Administration conducted a test-launch on November 4 to verify the design and technical characteristics of a new anti-aircraft missile system.
General Kim Jung-shik, a member of the Workers’ Party Central Military Commission and senior deputy director of the party’s central committee, guided the test alongside leading officials from the missile administration and defense research sectors.
According to the central agency, the test successfully confirmed the technical characteristics and reliability of new flying body materials, a digitized multiple-complex guidance method, target identification and tracking capabilities of the anti-aircraft missile system, and detection information processing equipment.
However, specific details regarding the missile’s specifications, flight distance, launch location, and targets were not disclosed.
Long-Range Strategic Cruise Missile Drills
On the same day, North Korea also staged a demonstration firepower drill involving a sub-unit belonging to the long-range strategic cruise missile unit in the eastern region.
KCNA claimed that the unit flawlessly executed a strike mission against a hypothetical airfield target using long-range strategic cruise missiles, adding that these tests and drills are part of regular mandatory activities by national defense and military sectors to advance combat systems and enhance the strategic reliability of strategic weapons.
Previously, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced that North Korea had fired multiple missiles from the Sonduk area in South Hamgyong Province toward the East Sea earlier that morning.
The military assessed that the missiles flew less than 300 kilometers, analyzing various possibilities including close-range ballistic missiles (CRBMs), surface-to-air missiles, and cruise missiles.
