North Korea releases image of 31 October weapon test

An image released by North Korea’s state-run media shows that the weapon system the country tested on 31 October was the same ‘super-large multiple rocket launcher [MRL]’ it tested on both 10 September and 24 August.

Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on 1 November that the “successful” test-firings, which were carried out by the Academy of Defence Science, served to verify what it referred to as “the security of [the] launchers' continuous fire system”.

The media outlet, which quoted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as expressing satisfaction with the weapon test, claimed that the new MRL would be capable of “totally destroying” a “group target of the enemy and designated target area” in a surprise strike.

The KCNA provided no further details about the tactical weapon system, which is reportedly designated KN-25 by US Forces Korea, or the firings, which marked Pyongyang’s 12th weapon test this year.

The report came a day after South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said North Korea had fired two unidentified short-range projectiles in an easterly direction at 1635 h and 1638 h local time from an area near the North Korean city of Sunchon, South Pyongan Province.

The projectiles flew a distance of about 370 km and reached an altitude of about 90 km.

South Korea's National Security Council (NSC) held an emergency meeting following the launches, expressing “great concern” about Pyongyang’s actions.