• North Korea successfully tested its multiple-warhead missile capability.
• The test aims to secure the MIRV capability.
• South Korea’s military previously indicated the test involved a hypersonic missile.

State media reported on Thursday that North Korea successfully tested its multiple-warhead missile capability, while dozens more balloons filled with trash from Pyongyang landed in the South. Relations between the two Koreas have reached one of their lowest points in years, with Pyongyang increasing weapons testing and retaliating against similar messages sent from activists in the South by bombarding the South with balloons full of trash.

On Wednesday, the balloons briefly forced Seoul’s major hub, Incheon Airport, to close. In response to the successive launches, the South has fully suspended a tension-reducing military treaty and restarted propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts and live-fire drills near the border.

On Wednesday, the balloons briefly caused the closure of Seoul’s major hub, Incheon Airport. In response to the successive launches, the South has fully suspended a tension-reducing military treaty and resumed propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts and live-fire drills near the border.

KCNA added, “The test aims to secure the MIRV capability,” referring to multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle technology, which allows for firing multiple warheads on a single ballistic missile.

South Korea’s military previously indicated that the North’s test on Wednesday seemed to involve a hypersonic missile, but the launch ended in a mid-air explosion. The official noted that more smoke than usual appeared to come from the missile, suggesting possible combustion issues and indicating it might have been powered by solid propellants.

According to KCNA, the test “was carried out by use of the first-stage engine of an intermediate-range solid-fuel ballistic missile within a 170–200-kilometer (105 to 124-mile) radius.”

“The effectiveness of a decoy separated from the missile was also verified by anti-air radar,” it said.

Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, stated that acquiring multiple-warhead missile technology is an ultimate goal for nations seeking ICBM-level missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

It appears the North is “testing such technology step by step over the long haul,” he told AFP.

“They appear to be making technological advancements in the early development stages of multiple-warhead missiles.”

For three consecutive days, North Korea has floated hundreds of balloons carrying trash southward in a tit-for-tat propaganda campaign.

Seoul’s military reported that around 70 balloons had landed by Thursday morning, primarily in northern Gyeonggi province and the Seoul area, confirming that the contents were not hazardous.

“The payload is about 10 kilograms (22 pounds), so there is a risk if the balloons descend rapidly,” it said, adding the military was ready to respond.

The response to the latest balloons “will be flexible depending on the strategic and operational situation, contingent upon North Korea’s actions,” it added. On Wednesday, South Korea’s Marine Corps resumed live-fire exercises on islands near the western inter-Korean border, marking the first such exercises since the complete suspension of the tension-reducing military deal with the North earlier this month.

On Wednesday, South Korea and the United States conducted joint air drills involving approximately 30 aircraft, including Washington’s advanced stealth fighter jet, the F-22 Raptor. President Yoon Suk Yeol visited a US aircraft carrier on Tuesday that had arrived in South Korea for joint trilateral military drills scheduled for this week to counter North Korean threats.

The drills, scheduled from Thursday to Saturday, include Washington’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Tokyo’s guided missile destroyer, JS Atago, and Seoul’s fighter jets, KF-16s, among other assets. Pyongyang has consistently criticized such exercises as rehearsals for an invasion.

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