![North Korea conducts a test launch of a new high-altitude, long-range surface-to-air missile over the East Sea on Dec. 25, 2025, under the observation of its leader, Kim Jong-un. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/09/aaec600e-80fd-4a5d-b8ae-4c8694f60ff3.jpg)
North Korea tested military technologies, including a cluster-bomb warhead of a tactical ballistic missile capable of “reducing any target to ashes,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on April 9.
North Korea reportedly fired Hwasong-11Ka, a surface-to-surface missile, as part of its tests of “important” weapons systems that were conducted from April 6 to April 8.
The test confirmed that the missile “can reduce to ashes any target covering an area of 6.5 to 7 hectares [16.1 to 17.3 acres] with the highest-density power,” the KCNA said.
The KCNA said that North Korea also conducted tests of an electromagnetic weapon system and carbon fiber sham bombs while verifying the combat reliability of a mobile short-range antiaircraft missile system.
Kim Jong-sik, a member of the Central Military Commission who oversaw the tests, called them “special assets of strategic nature to be combined with and applied to various military means in different spheres.”
South Korean military authorities detected several short-range ballistic missiles launched from the Wonsan area in Kangwon Province at around 8:50 a.m. on April 8. The missiles traveled about 240 kilometers (149 miles) before splashing into the East Sea. North Korea fired another ballistic missile toward the East Sea later that day, at around 2:20 p.m., according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), which said the missile flew more than 700 kilometers.
On April 7, North Korea launched several projectiles from the Pyongyang area, but their flight trajectories were lost shortly after their launch, leading the South Korean military to assess the test as a failure. While the JCS initially described them as unidentified projectiles, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command later confirmed they were ballistic missiles.
The Office of National Security at the Blue House held an emergency meeting attended by officials from the Ministry of National Defense and the JCS on April 8 to condemn the North’s latest ballistic missile launch as a “provocative act that violates [United Nations] Security Council resolutions” and urge Pyongyang to stop immediately.
BY LEE JIAN, YONHAP [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]
