North Korea on Monday said it successfully test-fired a new type of long-range cruise missile over the weekend, ramping up tensions as South Korea, the US and Japan are set to hold talks over the North’s nuclear issue on Tuesday.

During the test held on Saturday and Sunday, the cruise missiles flew in “pattern-8 flight orbits” for more than two hours above the North’s land and waters before hitting targets 1,500 kilometers away, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

The report called the missile a “strategic weapon of great significance,” stressing the successful tests gave the country “another effective deterrence means” against “the military maneuvers of the hostile forces.”

It noted the missile, which the North has been developing for the past two years, is part of a weapons development goal announced by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the eighth party congress in January.

Hailing the test as successful, it added “detailed tests of missile parts, scores of engine ground thrust tests, various flight tests, control and guidance tests and warhead power tests were conducted with success.”

The regime’s last known major missiles test was in March this year, when Pyongyang fired two short-range ballistic missiles, defying UN sanctions and drawing strong rebukes from Seoul, Washington and Tokyo. It also conducted a cruise missile test in January, just hours after US President Joe Biden took office.

The US Security Council resolution imposes restrictions on the North’s development and testing of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, but not its cruise missiles, as they are considered a lesser threat than ballistic missiles, which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

The KCNA also indicated that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had not attended the weekend tests, though he has usually participated in all major weapons tests in recent years.

The latest cruise missile test, however, still poses a “serious threat,” according to Park Won-gon, professor of North Korean Studies at Ewha Womans University, adding that the North explicitly describing the missile as a “strategic weapon” signifies its nuclear capability.

“There is a high possibility that the North could master the technology to miniaturize nuclear warheads small enough to be carried on a cruise missile,” said Park. “If this is the case, the cruise missile could pose serious threat to South Korea and other neighboring countries.”

He added that the North’s missile test was intended to send a warning to the US and South Korea over their joint military exercises that ended last month, which Pyongyang balked against and threatened would cause a “security crisis.”

The test launches come ahead of a trilateral session in Tokyo between South Korea, the US and Japan to discuss ways to induce Pyongyang back to the stalled denuclearization talks.

During their last three-way meeting held in Seoul in June, Sung Kim, US special representative for North Korea, said that Washington is willing to meet Pyongyang “anywhere, anytime without preconditions.” But Pyongyang has so far rebuffed Washington’s diplomatic overtures.

China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, is also scheduled to visit Seoul on Tuesday for talks with his counterpart, Chung Eui-yong, during which North Korea is expected to be on the agenda.

The US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement Monday that the test poses threats to the region and beyond, and that it is continuing to monitor the situation.

“This activity highlights DPRK’s continuing focus on developing is military program and the threats that poses to its neighbors and the international community,” the command said, referring to the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff also said that an in-depth analysis is underway in close cooperation with US intelligence authorities, but declined to confirm details.

Source:koreaherald.com/