• North Korea tests new cruise missiles for weapon system enhancement.
• KCNA reports launch as routine, no threat to neighbors.
• Escalating tensions with multiple missile tests amid strained inter-Korean relations.

North Korea conducted the first test of its new strategic cruise missiles, named “Pulhwasal-3-31,” as reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The test follows South Korea’s revelation of its own multiple cruise missile test-fires towards the Yellow Sea just a day earlier.

According to the KCNA report, the missile launch was described as a routine and obligatory activity for the Missile General Bureau and its affiliated defense science institutes. North Korea emphasized that the test did not pose any threat to neighboring countries’ safety and asserted that it had no connection to regional security concerns.

This development comes on the heels of North Korea’s recent test of a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile carrying a hypersonic warhead into the East Sea, marking the first such test this year. Additionally, the North Korean media reported last week that Pyongyang had tested an “underwater nuclear weapon system” in response to joint naval exercises by the US, South Korea, and Japan, claiming the drills posed a serious threat to its security.

Tensions between North and South Korea have escalated in recent months, with both sides abandoning key tension-reducing agreements, increasing frontier security measures, and conducting live-fire drills along the border. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared South Korea as his country’s principal enemy, disbanding agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach, and threatening war over even minor territorial infringements.

In response to the latest missile launches, South Korea’s defense minister issued a stern warning, stating that North Korea would face the end of its regime if it ever initiated war. The deteriorating ties between the two Koreas have been marked by provocative actions and rhetoric, including North Korea’s refusal to recognize the de facto maritime border, the Northern Limit Line, and calls for constitutional changes allowing the North to “occupy” Seoul in the event of war, according to the KCNA.

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