Kim Jong-un has said that more tests are needed to “contain and frustrate” the US’ plans in the region

The North Korean military has test-fired a new variant of its Hwasong-11 ballistic missile armed with a “super-large” warhead, state media reported on Wednesday. The test was conducted in response to the “grave threat from external forces,” North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said. 

The test took place at an unknown location on North Korea’s east coast and was supervised personally by Kim, the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. The missile in question was a new version of the Hwasong-11 short-range ballistic missile, upgraded to carry a 4.5 ton conventional warhead.

The Hwasong-11 has been in service since 2019. Similar in design to the American ATACMS, it is fired from a mobile launcher and has a maximum range of around 410 km (250 miles). North Korea tested a version capable of carrying a “super-large” warhead in July, but Wednesday’s test was the first conducted with such a warhead actually attached to the missile.

“Such tests and the steady improvement of performance of weapons and equipment through them are directly related to the grave threat from external forces to the state security environment of [North Korea],” KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

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“Only when we have strong power, can we contain and frustrate the enemies’ strategic misjudgment,” he continued, stressing that Pyongyang’s nuclear and conventional weapons must be constantly improved.

A “strategic cruise missile” was also test-fired on Wednesday, KCNA stated.

The missile tests were condemned by South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff, who called them a provocation that “seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”

The tests came less than a month after the US and South Korea concluded large-scale military exercises. While Washington and Seoul described the exercises as defensive in nature, the North Korean Foreign Ministry called them “provocative war drills for aggression.”

After a brief detente during former US President Donald Trump’s administration, the US and South Korea have increased the scale and frequency of their military exercises in recent years. Pyongyang has responded by stepping up its missile testing program, firing more than 100 ballistic and cruise missiles since 2022.

READ MORE: North Korea to expand nuclear arsenal

North Korea has not tested a nuclear weapon since 2017, although military analysts in the West have predicted since 2021 that such a test is imminent. In an apparent demonstration of strength last week, North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper published photos of Kim inspecting a uranium enrichment facility in which hundreds of centrifuges could be seen.

In a speech last Monday celebrating the 76th anniversary of the North Korean state, Kim pledged to “exponentially” expand the country’s nuclear arsenal in order to counter “threats perpetrated by the US imperialists” and their “vassal forces.”