North Korea Tests Cluster Warhead for Cruise Missile, Claims "Vertical-Strike Capability Perfected"

North Korea said it had conducted a test of a cluster warhead for strategic cruise missiles, following a test involving a tactical ballistic missile. It also claimed to have perfected its ability to strike targets from above.

North Korea's Missile Administration conducted a power assessment test of a strategic cruise missile's cluster warhead and a flight characteristics test for a vertical strike on the 2nd, under the guidance of Kim Jong Sik, a member of the Party Central Military Commission and first vice department director of the Party Central Committee, the Korean Central News Agency reported on the 3rd. Yonhap News Agency

The Korean Central News Agency reported on November 3 that the Missile Administration had conducted a power assessment test of a strategic cruise missile’s cluster warhead and a vertical-strike flight characteristics test on November 2. The tests were overseen by Kim Jong Sik, a member of the Workers’ Party of Korea Central Military Commission and first vice department director of the Party Central Committee.

A cluster warhead contains multiple submunitions in a single warhead and disperses them over a wide area. The Missile Administration’s Warhead Research Institute said it had “confirmed that a medium-sized cluster warhead mounted on a cruise missile could devastate a target area of five to six jeongbo with extremely high density.” That area is equivalent to approximately 50,000 to 60,000 square meters.

North Korea’s Cruise Missile Systems Research Institute said it had improved the missile’s maneuverability in the final stage of flight to account for natural terrain features, and claimed it had “perfected the capability to strike targets vertically.” The news agency did not disclose the missile type, launch site or flight distance.

North Korea also conducted a power assessment test of a cluster warhead for a tactical ballistic missile on October 31. At the time, the head of the Missile Administration announced that four types of warheads, divided into special-purpose and standard models, would be available for units to select and use by the end of this year. Commenting on the significance of the latest test, the head of the Missile Administration said, “The need to develop various weapons systems is more urgent than ever.”

Experts said the tests appeared intended to diversify conventional strike capabilities targeting South Korean and U.S. military facilities. Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, noted that “cluster warheads have been expanded from ballistic missiles to cruise missiles.” He explained that a vertical strike involves “flying at low altitude before rapidly climbing and diving vertically in front of the target,” and is “a capability to strike facilities behind ridgelines, tunnel entrances and building roofs from above.”

Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, said the aim was “to double deterrence against South Korea by strengthening asymmetric conventional strike capabilities at the stage before nuclear weapons are used.”

The tests took place while the South Korea-U.S. joint air exercise Freedom Flag was underway. Hong said North Korea may have chosen the timing to “maximize the publicity effect by making the prepared test public during the schedule of the South Korea-U.S. joint exercise.”

Meanwhile, North Korea did not report the cluster-warhead test for cruise missiles in domestic media intended for its citizens, including Rodong Sinmun, the Workers’ Party’s official newspaper.

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