North Korea 'tests precision guided missile'

North Korea claims to have successfully tested a new precision guided missile.

16:57 27 June 2014

North Korea has announced that they have successfully tested a precision guided missile. This appears to have been confirmed as neighbouring South Korea said that it detected three short-range projectiles coming down in the Sea of Japan. 

 

The announcement came at the same time as North Korea’s army threatens South Korea with a “devastating” retaliation for carrying out live fire drills near the maritime border. 

 

Although the South’s defence ministry will not confirm nor deny the drills, he said that routine exercises in the area of the maritime border were commonplace. 

 

North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, was among the few to watch the launch. 

 

North Korea is not known to possess tactical guided missiles but analysis of a recent propaganda film suggests that it acquired a variant of a Russian cruise missile, the KH-35. 

 

The weapon could be the North’s response to South’s home-grown development of a cruise missile that was displayed during a military parade in Seoul last October. 

 

US state department spokeswoman Marie Harf reacted to the news saying: "Technically, obviously any launch of anything is problematic, is escalatory in nature, is threatening.”