North Korean leader Kim oversees multiple rocket launcher test

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected the test of a multiple rocket launcher, state media said on Friday. This is the latest weapons test since Pyongyang was accused of supplying Russia with weapons.

North Korea, largely isolated, has recently strengthened military ties with Moscow. He also thanked Russia for using a veto this month to block the renewal of a panel of UN experts monitoring international sanctions against him.

South Korea and the United States have been accusing North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia. The United Nations has banned any such move.

Nuclear-armed North Korea could test and ramp up production of cruise missiles before sending them to Russia for use in Ukraine, analysts said.

According to the official Korean Central News Agency (KSNA), the “flight characteristics and hit and concentration indicators” of the “multiple rocket launcher’s 240 mm shell” made at the new defense industry unit in Pyongyang were “rated very satisfactorily” during tests.

KCNA said that leader Kim stressed on the need to definitely complete the war material production plan for this year in a qualitative manner. “The rocket launcher with new technology will bring about a strategic change to strengthen the arterial force of the North Korean army”, KCIN said, quoting Kim.

Earlier this week, Kim inspected the country’s first ‘nuclear trigger’ exercise, Pyongyang said. This included simulating nuclear counterattacks as a warning to enemies.

Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said based on Friday’s announcement, North Korea appeared to have made “some progress” in integrating guidance technology for precision strikes aimed at the South Korean capital. “The whole country looks like a missile defense industry exhibition”, he said.

Last year, North Korea carried out a record number of missile tests in defiance of UN sanctions imposed since 2006 and despite warnings from Washington and Seoul. In 2022, Pyongyang declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear weapons state.

This year, Pyongyang has declared South Korea as its ‘main enemy’. It has isolated agencies dedicated to reunification and access and has even threatened war over “zero decimal 001 mm” territorial violations.