Pyongyang Confirms Tactical Guided Missile Tests

North Korea said today that it tested a tactical guided missile on Monday to confirm the accuracy of the weapons system under production.

The South earlier suspected Pyongyang to have fired two short-range ballistic missiles eastward from the Sunan airfield. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the projectiles fired flew about 380km at an altitude of 42 km, reaching speeds of Mach 5.

Local media speculated the missile to be similar to the U.S. military’s Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) called the KN-24. If true, this will be the fourth test-launch of the KN-24 missile following two tests in August 2019 and another in March 2020. Launched from a transporter erector launcher, the new ballistic missile is known to fly on a complicated trajectory to evade interception. The country reportedly tested a variant of Russia's Iskander (KN-23) from a railway-based platform from North Pyongan Province on Friday. It is also testing a super-large caliber multiple rocket launcher which the U.S. military labels as the KN-25.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Tuesday that the “two tactical guided missiles launched in the western area of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) precisely hit an island target in the East Sea of Korea.” The Academy of Defense Science which conducted the test-fire "confirmed the accuracy, security and efficiency of the operation of the weapon system under production,” the report stated.