dpa
Seoul
North Korea claims to have successfully tested a missile capable of carrying multiple warheads, according to state media reports on Thursday, although these were dismissed by South Korea as deceptive and exaggerated.
Pyongyang’s state-controlled KCNA news agency spoke of a successful test for a “new important technology.” But a spokesman for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff told journalists in Seoul that the test missile, fired by North Korea the day before, had exploded in the early phase of the flight.
Widely isolated North Korea, under the rule of Kim Jong Un, is subject to international sanctions because of its nuclear weapons and missile programme.
The latest missile test had been detected by the South Korean military. It said the initially unidentified missile flew about 250 kilometres eastward towards the open sea before exploding.
The North Korean reporting stated that the test used the first-stage engine of an intermediate-range solid-fuel ballistic missile. Several mobile warheads were separated and “guided correctly to the three coordinate targets,” KCNA wrote. A decoy was also deployed.
The test was aimed at securing the so-called MIRV capability, or Multiple Independently-targetable Reentry Vehicles - meaning the missile can be fitted with multiple warheads that can be directed at different targets.
MIRV missiles are difficult to intercept by missile defence systems.
Few countries possess such missiles, including nuclear powers the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France. India says it tested an intercontinental missile with MIRV technology in March.
Despite the sanctions, North Korea has for years been advancing the development of missiles, especially nuclear-capable missiles. The communist leadership views the US and South Korea as its main enemies.
At the request of several countries - including the United States, Britain, France, Japan and South Korea - North Korea will also be a topic of discussion at the UN Security Council on Friday. Several diplomats told dpa that the issue will centre on exports of weapons to Russia.
