N. Korea reports weapons demonstration featuring cruise missiles, rocket launchers, drones

SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has staged a weapons demonstration featuring suicide attack drones, cruise missiles and a super-large multiple rocket launcher, state media reported Friday.

The demonstration was held Thursday in connection with an exhibition on unmanned aerial technology attended by leader Kim Jong-un, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The event took place on the same day that South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) detected around 10 short-range ballistic missiles launched from the Wonsan area toward the East Sea.

The exhibition featured various types of strategic and tactical multipurpose drones, suicide attack drones and other combat systems, while the weapons demonstration involved tactical suicide attack drones, cruise missiles and a 600-millimeter multiple rocket launcher unit, KCNA said.

The agency claimed that air-to-ground missiles launched from suicide attack drones and multipurpose drones, along with cruise missiles, struck an island target with 100 percent accuracy.

It also said the 600-mm multiple rocket launcher, known as the "Sniper," was publicly demonstrated in a firing exercise for the first time.

In a speech, Kim stressed the importance of unmanned aerial technology in modern warfare and called for the rapid expansion of the country's unmanned aerial capabilities.

He also urged the scientific community to make breakthroughs in unmanned aerial technology and defense artificial intelligence (AI), according to KCNA.

Kim expressed satisfaction with the exhibition and called for further strengthening the country's military capabilities and defense industry, the report said.

Thursday's launches marked the North's 17th ballistic missile launch of the year, coming 17 days after its previous launch on Oct. 12.

A military official in Seoul said that the launches are believed to have involved the North's KN-25 super-large 600-mm multiple rocket launcher, which Pyongyang claims can be fitted with its Hwasan-31 tactical nuclear warheads.

graceoh@yna.co.kr
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