North Korea tests military assets including ballistic missile, KCNA reports


SEOUL, April 9 (Reuters) - North ⁠Korea conducted tests of various military technologies between Monday ⁠and Wednesday including the cluster-bomb warhead of a tactical ‌ballistic missile and an electromagnetic weapon system, state media KCNA reported on Thursday.

The country's Academy of Defence Science and the Missile Administration conducted tests ​of an electromagnetic weapon system, carbon fiber ⁠bombs, a mobile short-range ⁠anti-aircraft missile system, and a tactical ballistic missile's cluster bomb warhead, ⁠according ‌to the KCNA.

Kim Jong Sik, a general who oversaw the tests, said the electromagnetic weapon system and ⁠carbon fibre bombs are "special assets" for North Korea's ​military, according to ‌KCNA.

On Wednesday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said ⁠Pyongyang had test-fired ​multiple missiles on Tuesday and Wednesday. South Korea's Presidential Blue House convened an emergency security meeting, according to media reports, urging ⁠Pyongyang to end such tests.

Without specifying the ​number of ballistic missiles launched - a violation of United Nations sanctions - North Korea said it had tested its mobile short-range anti-aircraft ⁠missile system as well as the combat capabilities of its tactical ballistic missile warhead.

One test proved the surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missile called Hwasongpho-11 Ka, which is tipped with a cluster bomb ​warhead, can "reduce to ashes any target" covering ⁠an area of up to 7 hectares (17 acres), KCNA said.

The ​tests came as North Korea reiterated ‌its characterisation of South Korea as ​a "hostile enemy," dashing hopes for easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

(Reporting by Heejin Kim; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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