North Korea has said that it successfully test fired newly developed long-range cruise missiles over the weekend. It's the first known testing activity in months, underscoring how it continues to expand its military capabilities amid a stalemate in nuclear negotiations with the United States.
The Korean Central News Agency said on Monday that the cruise missiles demonstrated an ability to hit targets 1,500 kilometers away during flight tests on Saturday and Sunday.
North Korea has hailed its new missiles as a “strategic weapon of great significance” that meet leader Kim Jong Un's call to strengthen the country's military might. It implies that they were being developed with an intent to arm them with nuclear warheads.
North Korean state media published photos of a projectile being fired from a launcher truck and an apparent missile with wings and tail fins traveling in the air.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military was analysing the North Korean launches based on US and South Korean intelligence.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command has said it was monitoring the situation with allies and that the North Korean activity reflects a continuing focus on “developing its military program and the threats that poses to its neighbours and the international community.”
The North's resumption of testing activity is likely an attempt at pressuring the Biden administration over the diplomatic freeze after Kim failed to leverage his arsenal for economic benefits during the the presidency of Donald Trump.
North Korea ended a yearlong pause in ballistic tests in March by firing two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea, continuing a tradition of testing new U.S. administrations with weapons demonstrations aimed at measuring Washington's response and wresting concessions.