North Korea says new long-range cruise missiles were launched: state media

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The report, dated Monday, says the country’s Academy of Defense Sciences successfully tested the missiles on Sept. 11 and 12 and that the weapons had been in development for two years.

Several UN Security Council resolutions have expressed concern about North Korea’s ballistic missile program. However, these resolutions have not focused on the development or testing of cruise missiles.

Unlike ballistic missiles, cruise missiles are powered by jet engines. Like an airplane, they stay closer to the ground, making them harder to spot.

According to KCNA, the new missiles traveled for 7,580 seconds through oval and eight-digit flight orbits in the air over the land and territorial waters of North Korea and reached targets 1,500 km away.

The missiles offer “another effective deterrent to more reliably ensure the security of our state and to contain strongly the military maneuvers of the hostile forces against the DPRK,” the agency said.

An army of neighboring South Korea is investigating the reported release, a South Korean Defense Ministry official told CNN.

“Cruise missiles are often detected after testing their low-altitude flight. North Korea had already conducted two cruise missile tests this year, but we did not disclose them, as we do not disclose all the tests of cruise missiles we detect, ”the officer said. added.

North Korea conducted at least two test launches earlier this year and were widely seen as attempts to send a message to the Biden administration about the importance of the isolated country in the region.

The United States has not commented on the latest reported release.

This is a developing story.

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