North Korea claims to have tested a new missile with multiple warheads. South Korea claims to be covering up failure

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Thursday it successfully tested a multi-warhead missile in the first known launch of a developmental weapon coveted by leader Kim Jong Un to overwhelm U.S. missile defenses and South Koreans. South Korea quickly rejected the claim, calling it a deception intended to cover up a failed launch.

North Korean state media said Wednesday's launch tested the separation and guidance control of individual mobile warheads to ensure the capability of multiple independent re-entry vehicles. It said the separate warheads “were correctly guided to the three coordinated targets” and that a decoy that separated from the missile was verified by radar.

If confirmed, it would be North Korea's first public launch related to the development of a multi-warhead missile, albeit at an early stage.

The South Korean military said later Thursday that a joint analysis by South Korean and U.S. authorities concluded that the North Korean missile launch had failed.

Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Lee Sung Joon told reporters that the separation of warheads in MIRV tests was done in descending stages, but the North Korean missile exploded in the initial phase of its flight. He said North Korean photos of the launch showed a weapon similar to a liquid-fueled Hwasong-17 ICBM the country tested in March 2023.

South Korea's military previously assessed Wednesday that a solid-fueled hypersonic missile was launched and exploded off the North's east coast, scattering fragments in the water. It said it detected more smoke than normal launches, suggesting a possible combustion problem caused by an engine fault.

A multi-warhead missile was among the high-tech weapons systems cited by Kim on his wish list at a ruling party meeting in early 2021, alongside spy satellites, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons and submarine-launched nuclear missiles. North Korea has since carried out a series of tests to develop such weapons systems.

“I have been waiting for a MIRV test for some time now, as it was one of the last items on Kim Jong Un's modernization wish list during the 8th Party Congress in January 2021,” said Ankit Panda, senior analyst at Carnegie. Foundation for International Peace.

Panda said Wednesday's test appeared to be an initial assessment of some of the key subsystems for developing a working MIRV. He expects successive tests of the technology to follow, leading to the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on a high trajectory. Panda said it appeared “South Korea initially misinterpreted the nature of this test.”

Lee Choon Geun, an honorary researcher at South Korea's Institute of Science and Technology Policy, said North Korea appears to have started testing individual technological elements of multi-warhead missiles. He added that further tests would be expected to perfect separation and guidance control as well as other facets of multi-warhead missile technology.

Chang Young-keun, a missile expert at the Korea National Strategy Research Institute in Seoul, said the North Korean test had not yet proven it had the MIRV control technologies needed for ICBMs. He added that North Korea had not disclosed enough information to verify that its MIRVs had successfully re-entered the atmosphere and hit designated targets.

Panda said the presence of a decoy in the North Korean test was significant. But South Korea's military said it could not immediately confirm whether North Korea had the technology to build such a decoy.

“North Korea has made no secret of its intention to strain and defeat U.S. missile defenses,” Panda said. “The decoys will contribute to this effort and will likely also be integrated into their single-warhead missiles.”

The North Korean test, its first weapons demonstration in a month, came as the country protests the regional deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier for a first joint training exercise with South Korea and Japan. North Korean Vice Defense Minister Kim Kang Il on Monday called the deployment of the aircraft carrier “reckless” and threatened unspecified action.

The South Korean military said the South Korea-U.S.-Japan multi-domain training began Thursday for three days. The “Freedom Edge” exercise will mobilize destroyers, fighter planes and helicopters from the three countries as well as the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. The training will include anti-missile defense, anti-submarine and maritime interdiction exercises.

In recent weeks, North Korea has also launched numerous balloons carrying trash toward South Korea in what it has described as a tit-for-tat response to South Korean activists sending political leaflets via their own balloons. In response, South Korea briefly broadcast propaganda broadcasts over loudspeakers in border areas on June 9 for the first time in years. South Korea said Thursday it would turn the loudspeakers back on if North Korea continues sending trash balloons.

Concerns about North Korea also intensified last week when Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement requiring each country to provide aid to the other in the event of an attack and pledged to strengthen their cooperation. Analysts say the deal represents the strongest bond between the two countries since the end of the Cold War.

Lee, the expert, said how quickly North Korea can complete development of a multi-warhead weapon will depend on whether and to what extent Russia provides technological support to North Korea . South Korea's military said Russian assistance to North Korea's MIRV program has not been confirmed.