Images released by North Korea’s state-run media show that the weapon system the country tested on 10 September was the same ‘super-large multiple rocket launcher [MRL]’ it had tested on 24 August.
North Korea test-fired its ‘super-large’ MRL system again on 10 September. (KCNA)
Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on 11 September that the test-firing, which was overseen by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, “served as an occasion to clearly decide the next-stage orientation to complete the weapon system”.
The state-run KCNA, which confirmed that two projectiles were test-launched that day, quoted Kim as saying that the latest test “finally” verified aspects related to the weapon system’s “combat operation, trajectory characteristics, accuracy and precise homing functions”, adding that what remains to be done is to carry out a test “which is most vivid character in terms of the power of multiple rocket launcher”.
The KCNA provided no further details about the weapon system or the test launch.
The report came a day after South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that Pyongyang had fired two unidentified short-range projectiles in an easterly direction at 0653 h and 0712 h local time from an area in North Korea’s western city of Kaechon, South Pyongan Province.
The projectiles flew about 330 km and reached an altitude of around 50 to 60 km, said the JCS, who did not confirm whether the weapons fell into the East Sea (Sea of Japan).
The JCS also urged Pyongyang to “instantly stop such acts that heighten tensions”.
The 10 September test-firings marked the 10th weapons test North Korea has conducted since 4 May.
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