North Korea fires off cluster bomb warheads in latest ‘major’ weapons test

North Korea said Sunday that it had tested cluster-bomb warheads for its tactical ballistic missiles a day earlier, the latest in a spate of weapons tests by the nuclear-armed country.

Defense officials said the test “confirmed that the Standard Type 2 cluster-bomb warhead is capable of turning into ashes a target area of 12 to 13 hectares with its highest-density power,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said in a report.

Images accompanying the report — which framed the event as a “major” weapons test — showed Hwasong-11D short-range ballistic missiles being fired, with the cluster warheads slamming into an island target. 

The North’s Missile Administration called the test “a part of regular scientific research activities aimed at boosting the power of combat systems.”

“We classify the cluster-bomb warheads into four categories according to special and standard purposes. Within this year we will enable units to select and use all those types according to operational aims and specific features of targets,” KCNA cited the unnamed general director of the North’s Missile Administration as saying.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un did not attend the test, which was overseen by Gen. Kim Jong Sik, a high-ranking official involved in developing the country’s munitions program.

Last week, the North Korean leader called for his country to seize “absolute superiority” in drone technology as he attended an exhibition and demonstration of uncrewed aeronautical technology, including advanced tech that Pyongyang says employs artificial intelligence.

Earlier this month, the North said it had tested a “new-type” precision-guided torpedo system that uses AI for target detection and guidance after claiming a successful test of two types of cruise missiles from a submarine.

The cluster warhead test also came amid heightened tensions between the two Koreas, with South Korea confirming the unusual conspicuous presence of a North Korean artillery piece positioned at the heavily armed border last week.

Pyongyang could be looking to build up its leverage by conducting the weapons tests ahead of any potential meeting between leader Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, later this month.

Trump has repeatedly raised the prospect of such talks, though Kim has yet to publicly respond to his entreaties.

On Saturday, the United States, South Korea and Japan reaffirmed their commitment to the North’s “complete denuclearization,” as Pyongyang continues to reject its disarmament.

North Korea has enshrined its status as a nuclear-armed state in law, and Kim and other top officials have said the idea of relinquishing its nukes is off the table.