
Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, oversaw another test firing on Saturday of a new multiple rocket launch system that the nation intends to equip its forces with beginning this year. This is part of the country’s effort to increase the number of weapons it has that are aimed at South Korean population centers.
The test on Friday, according to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency, validated the 240-millimeter multiple rocket launcher as well as its guided shells’ “advantage and destructive power.” According to the agency, the system—which the North has already tested twice this year—will be replaced by newer weapons in combat units between 2024 and 2026.
In recent months, North Korea has continued to accelerate its weapons testing as it builds up its military might, and diplomacy with the US and South Korea stagnates.
According to experts, Kim wants to use leverage to force the US to eventually acknowledge that the North is a nuclear power and to negotiate security and economic concessions from a position of strength.
In recent weeks, North Korea has concentrated on its artillery systems. Among its testing activities in April were salvo launches of multiple 600-mm rocket launchers, which the state media characterized as a nuclear counterattack simulation against adversary targets.
This year, the North also tested a number of cruise missiles and what it claimed to be an intermediate-range, solid-fuel missile with a hypersonic warhead in flight. According to experts, it is intended to reach far-flung American targets in the Pacific, such as Guam, the country’s military center.
After the test on Friday, Kim gave orders to increase the production of the guided shells and 240-mm multiple rocket launchers, claiming that this would result in a “significant change” to his forces’ ability to fight, according to the North Korean news agency.
Although half of South Korea’s 51 million residents live in the capital region, which is the intended target of North Korean artillery systems, South Korean military officials believe the North is testing new weapons that it intends to sell to Russia.
Officials from the United States and South Korea have charged that the North is supplying Russia with artillery shells, missiles, and other military hardware in order to prolong its conflict in Ukraine.
Kim has made an effort in recent months to increase the visibility of his connections with Beijing and Moscow in an effort to break free from diplomatic isolation and present a unified front against Washington.