North Korea unveiled on the 20th footage of its cluster bomb test launches. While cluster bomb tests were also conducted earlier on the 6th through 8th, this marks the first public disclosure.
The previous day, North Korea test-launched several Hwasongpho-11Ra missiles from Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province. The released photos showed the missiles being launched from the end of a breakwater and cluster munitions striking Alseom Island.
Externally referred to as a new-type tactical ballistic missile, North Korea used the designation "Hwasongpho-11Ra." Along with precision strike capability, it is characterized by enhanced lethality through the loading of cluster bombs and air-scattered mine submunitions into the warhead section.
The Hwasongpho-11Ra is the North Korean designation for the KN-23, known as the "North Korean version of Iskander," and can be regarded as a scaled-down variant of the KN-23 ballistic missile. When North Korea unveiled the Hwasan-31 tactical nuclear warhead in March 2023, the designation "Hwasongpho-11Ra" was identified in the blueprints.
Since then, North Korea had continued to externally use names such as new-type tactical ballistic missile or tactical guided missile, but this time officially announced the Hwasongpho-11Ra designation for the first time.
Shin Jong-woo, secretary-general of the Korea Defense and Security Forum (KODEF), analyzed, "It has a reduced length and diameter compared to the recently test-launched 'Hwasongpho-11Ga,' and appears to be a weapon similar to our military's Korean Tactical Surface-to-Surface Missile (KTSSM)."
The Korean Central News Agency claimed that five Hwasongpho-11Ra missiles struck an area of 12.5-13 hectares on an island 136 km away with very high density. This means that five missiles devastated an area equivalent to 18 soccer fields.
Compared to North Korea's claim during the cluster bomb tests on the 6th-8th that they devastated an area of 6.5-7 hectares, the destructive power has effectively doubled.
North Korea's existing short-range ballistic missiles included the KN-02 "Toksa." However, since these have been phased out, North Korea has been focusing on developing short-range missiles since 2021 based on the successful development of the Hwasongpho-11Ga.
Hong Min, senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, noted, "A 136 km radius covers not only Seoul but also the USFK base in Pyeongtaek, Osan Air Base, Songtan-Anjung, and the Cheonan-Asan area." He pointed out, "This is a system that fills the gap between existing multiple rocket launchers and short-range ballistic missiles, enabling strikes on the most sensitive target groups of the ROK-US alliance—the 'Seoul metropolitan area-Pyeongtaek'—making it extremely threatening to us."
He added, "The Hwasongpho-11Ra was designed from the outset on the premise of saturation fire and high-precision suppression, and through operational deployment, it appears that overall corps-level firepower has been restructured."
Chairman Kim Jong-un, who observed the test launch, also emphasized "scattering warheads of various uses" and "enhanced high-density suppression strike capability against specific target areas."
Cluster munitions contain dozens to hundreds of submunitions (bomblets) within a single warhead. When detonated in the air, the submunitions scatter in all directions, making them difficult to intercept and indiscriminately lethal, earning them the nickname "devil's weapon."
North Korea, having watched Israel's strongest air defense network be neutralized by Iran's cluster munitions, appears to be eagerly experimenting with integrating cluster munitions into tactical ballistic missiles.
Above all, the air-scattered mine submunition mentioned by North Korea for the first time appears to be a scatterable mine that does not explode immediately upon impact but functions as a mine after being dispersed. Once scattered, it is analyzed that it could effectively block enemy troop movements in the area.
Additionally, the mentioned "Missile Warhead Specialized Research Group" appears to be a department under the Missile Administration that researches and develops warheads. It is presumed that North Korea's military is conducting experiments through this organization to load various lethal weapons such as cluster munitions and mine submunitions into warheads.
KF-21 takes off! K-defense industry is now conquering the skies as well!
