Seoul, South Korea CNN —North Korea claims it tested a new nuclear weapons command-and-control system Monday, with the firing of projectiles carrying simulated nuclear warheads from multiple rocket launcher units.
North Korea has tested both the rocket launcher system and a simulated nuclear counterstrike before, according to analysts, but KCNA said Monday’s exercise was the first time the “Haekbangashoe” – or nuclear trigger – command-and-control system was used, demonstrating what it claimed was an ability to switch rocket launchers from conventional to nuclear weapons.
Though the regime’s true capabilities have not been independently verified, a 2017 report from the US Defense Intelligence Agency concluded North Korea had likely achieved its key goal of miniaturization.
Images supplied by North Korea Monday showed four rockets being launched, with KCNA saying they hit targets on an island 352 kilometers (218 miles) away.
The US-South Korea exercise has “incited extreme war fever” and cannot be classified as defense or deterrence, the KCNA report said.
Persons:
Kim Jong Un, KCNA, Kim, ”, Jeffrey Lewis, James Martin, Joseph Dempsey, ” Dempsey, Kim ramped
Organizations:
South Korea CNN, Korean Central News Agency, James, James Martin Center, Nonproliferation Studies, International Institute for Strategic Studies, US Defense Intelligence Agency, miniaturization, North Korea, Korea’s, Chiefs, Staff, Korea, US Air Force
Locations:
Seoul, South Korea, Korea, United States, North Korea, denuclearization, Washington, U.S