North Korean state media has released images of the latest of Pyongyang's steady stream of missile tests Wednesday, which drew condemnation from the South.
In the images, released Thursday by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un can be seen observing the launches from a launch site and the rockets' impact on what appears to be a target island off the country's east coast. He was said to have expressed "great satisfaction" with the results.
One of the test firings involved ballistic missile, the Hwasongpo-11Da-4.5, with the aim of gauging its accuracy from a range of 200 miles as well as the "explosive power" of its "supersized" 4.5-ton warhead, KCNA wrote.
The other weapon being tested was an upgraded strategic cruise missile "with advanced performance for combat use."
Kim was quoted as citing serious threats posed by external forces as a driver of the his continued missile tests. He added that only by possessing "strong power" can the regime "deter and crush the enemy's strategic miscalculation and willingness to use force."
During his visit, the 40-year-old leader also tested and inspected an assault rifle and sniper rifle developed by the country's Academy of Defense Science, the report said.
Newsweek reached out to the North Korean embassy in China outside office hours via emailed request for comment.
Seoul on Wednesday again condemned the North's launches, the second round in less than a week, as "clear acts of provocation seriously threatening peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula."
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command also issued a rebuke over the tests and called on Pyongyang to "refrain from further unlawful and destabilizing acts" while affirming Washington's "ironclad" support for its South Korean and Japanese allies.
Under Kim's 13-year rule, North Korea has conducted over 236 missile tests, all of which involving weapons with a range of at least 300 kilometers (186 miles) and the capability to carry payloads of at least 500 kilograms (1,102 pounds), according to the Center for Nonproliferation Studies North Korea Missile Test Database.
This marks a 13-fold increase from the number of launches overseen by his father, Kim Jong Il, who ruled from 1994 until his death in 2011.
Despite United Nations Security Council sanctions aimed at curbing North Korea's ballistic missile ambitions, Kim Jong Un's regime has launched missiles on more than 30 occasions this year, including short- and intermediate-range tests and one missile carrying a hypersonic glide vehicle.
When asked about North Korea's rationale for such frequent tests, Vann Van Diepen, an independent consultant and former U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, noted the dearth of information available on the reclusive country's missile stockpiles, production or exports.
"We have no basis for positing the extent to which North Korea perceives there is any substantial trade-off between continuing to grow its force and launching missiles, be it for force improvement, political messaging, export promotion, or some other reason" he told Newsweek.
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