North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed the test-firing of a "new-type tactical guided weapon," state-run media reported Sunday, suggesting that it launched a short-range missile the previous day.
The development came after North Korea on March 24 conducted the first launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile since November 2017, marking an end to its self-imposed moratorium on ICBM tests introduced in April 2018.
The test-firing was "carried out successfully," the official Korean Central News Agency said. It did not say when North Korea test-fired the weapon, but Kim's activities are usually reported one day later.
The South Korean military said it detected the launch of two projectiles by North Korea into the Sea of Japan around 6 p.m. Saturday, and that they flew 110 kilometers at an altitude of about 25 km, traveling at a top speed of Mach 4, or four times the speed of sound.
On Friday, North Korea marked the 110th anniversary of the birth of its founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of the current leader, amid mounting concern that it could conduct military provocations directed against the United States and South Korea.
But despite speculation that North Korea could launch an ICBM or stage its seventh nuclear test on the day, which is the country's biggest holiday and known as the "Day of the Sun," no such move was observed.
Many foreign affairs experts said North Korea could take provocative actions around Monday, the start of large-scale U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises. Pyongyang has slammed them as a "rehearsal" for war.
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