North Korea says it has test-fired controllable munitions from a multiple rocket launcher under the supervision of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.
Starting this year and continuing through 2026, the "technically updated" 240-millimeter system is expected to gradually replace older equipment being used by the Korean People's Army, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.
The display is the latest in a monthslong series of tests and live-fire exercises conducted amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula as the Kim regime shows off its offensive capabilities. These demonstrations have included launches of rockets alleged to be nuclear-capable, missiles said to be tipped with maneuverable hypersonic warheads and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The mobile launcher tested on May 10 was upgraded with an automatic fire combined control system, KCNA reported, adding that all eight of the rockets fired had hit their mark, "proving the advantages and destructive power of the updated rocket launcher system and the controllable shells for multiple rocket launcher."
"A significant change will be soon made in increasing the artillery combat capability of our army," the outlet said.
According to the report, Kim discussed with personnel ways to spur "the national defense economic work to raise to the highest level the production of the technically updated multiple rocket launcher system and controllable shells."
The leader has been photographed overseeing a number of artillery field tests in recent months, including salvos of short-range 600-millimeter rockets that an expert told Newsweek were capable of reaching the South Korean capital, Seoul, "within a couple minutes."
Newsweek has contacted the North Korean embassy in Beijing and the South Korean embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment via email.
In April, Pyongyang said it had conducted a "power test" on a "super-large warhead" designed for a Hwasal-1 strategic cruise missile.
North Korea amended its constitution in January to declare South Korea its "principal enemy" and stepped up its purge of symbols of inter-Korean cooperation and initiatives and organizations created to promote eventual reunification.
"Whether motivated by this policy shift or not, the North's missile activities in the first few months of 2024 are consistent with the idea that its conventional and nuclear strike capabilities against South Korea need to be bolstered, exercised and advertised," Vann Van Diepen, a former U.S. State Department official, wrote earlier this month in an article for 38 North, a North Korea–focused initiative of the Stimson Center think tank.
Tensions soared in November after Pyongyang successfully launched its first spy satellite, which it said was necessary for its defense. Seoul retaliated by suspending parts of a North-South military accord that sought to lower the risk of conflict. North Korea then withdrew from the 2018 agreement completely.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian ... Read more
