Pyongyang reveals its week-long testing blitz included Hwasong-11 ballistic missiles armed with cluster-bomb warheads capable of destroying 17 acres in a single strike, raising alarm across the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea confirmed on Thursday that its three-day weapons testing spree, which began Monday, included ballistic missiles armed with cluster-bomb warheads — a significant escalation in Pyongyang's push to expand its nuclear-capable strike forces aimed at South Korea. The tests involved the Hwasong-11 short-range ballistic missile, a weapon modeled after Russia's Iskander system and designed to fly at low altitudes with maneuverable trajectories specifically to evade missile defense systems deployed by the United States and South Korea.
According to North Korean state media, the missiles launched Wednesday traveled between 240 and 700 kilometers before falling into the sea off the Korean Peninsula's east coast. Pyongyang claimed the cluster-munition warheads can "reduce to ashes any target covering an area of 6.5 to 7 hectares" — roughly 16 to 17 acres — with what it described as "highest-density power." The testing blitz also included demonstrations of anti-aircraft weapons, electromagnetic warfare systems, and carbon-fiber bombs, suggesting a broad modernization effort across multiple weapons categories.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military was analyzing the launches while sharing intelligence with US and Japanese counterparts, but declined to confirm or deny North Korea's specific capability claims. The tests come at a moment when global attention is focused on the Middle East, potentially giving Pyongyang a strategic window to advance its weapons program with reduced international scrutiny. Arms control experts warn that cluster munitions mounted on maneuverable ballistic missiles represent a particularly dangerous combination, as they are designed to overwhelm defenses and cause maximum casualties across wide areas.