North Korea Tests 'Cluster Warhead' Capable of Devastating 18 Soccer Fields, Signals Combat Deployment

Cluster Warhead Mounted on Tactical Ballistic Missile; Effectiveness Assessed
Joint Chiefs of Staff: "Detected Launch Toward West Sea from Jeongju, North Pyongan Province"

North Korea conducted a test of a cluster warhead that it claims can devastate an area equivalent to 18 soccer fields.

North Korea's Korean Central News Agency reported that a combat applicability and power assessment test was conducted on October 31 for a tactical ballistic missile cluster warhead. Yonhap News Agency

North Korea's Korean Central News Agency reported on November 1 that the country's Missile Administration conducted a "test to assess the combat applicability and effectiveness of a cluster warhead for a tactical ballistic missile" on October 31. The test was overseen by General Kim Jong Sik, a member of the Workers' Party of Korea Central Military Commission and first vice department director of the Party Central Committee.

Research institutes under North Korea's Missile Administration claimed that the test results showed that a "Standard Type 2 cluster warhead can devastate a target area of 12 to 13 jeongbo (approximately 11.9 to 12.9 hectares) at an extremely high density." That is equivalent to about 18 soccer fields.

A cluster warhead is a weapon that carries multiple submunitions and detonates in midair. The submunitions scatter over a wide area and explode simultaneously, enabling attacks on dispersed troops and military equipment across a broad area. Because of the indiscriminate risk of casualties, cluster munitions are also called "weapons of the devil" and "steel rain."

Photos released by North Korea showed the warhead exploding in midair after the missile launch, scattering submunitions. On the target island, footage also captured arched structures, believed to be models of aircraft hangars or ammunition depots used by the South Korean military, being destroyed in the explosion.

The head of North Korea's Missile Administration said cluster warheads are divided into four categories, including special-purpose and standard types, adding, "Before the end of this year, we will enable units to select and use all of these warheads according to their operational objectives and the characteristics of the targets to be eliminated." This is seen as meaning that North Korea intends to deploy various types of cluster warheads for combat, going beyond simply verifying their destructive power.

South Korea's military also confirmed that North Korea had launched a missile. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said, "We detected a missile that North Korea launched toward the West Sea from the Jeongju area of North Pyongan Province yesterday," adding, "South Korea and the United States had been tracking related developments and maintaining readiness even before North Korea's missile launch."

However, the military did not separately announce North Korea's ballistic missile launch on October 31. North Korea also did not disclose specific details, including the missile's flight distance, altitude, or launch time.

Earlier, in April this year, North Korea test-launched a Hwasongpho-11 Ra-type missile equipped with a cluster warhead, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Ju Ae in attendance.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.