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| North Korea declares that its test of a multiple warhead missile was successful |
North Korea declares a successful test of their multiple-warhead missile development.
SEOUL-The claim made by North Korea's official media agency, KCNA, on Thursday that the country had successfully carried out a significant test aimed at developing missiles with multiple warheads was denied by South Korea as "deception" to cover up a botched launch.
According to North Korea, the test was conducted on Wednesday with an intermediate-range ballistic missile's first-stage solid-fuel engine.
The message was sent the day after the military of South Korea said that North Korea had fired what looked to be a hypersonic missile off its east coast, but it burst in midair.
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Aiming to develop multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle technology, KCNA said the missile successfully separated warheads that were precisely guided to three predetermined targets.
"The purpose was to secure the capability to destroy individual targets using multiple warheads," said the statement.
South Korea's military said a joint analysis by the South and the U.S. military points to the missile's blowing up in its initial stage of flight.
"Today North Korea disclosed something, but we believe it's simply a means of deception and exaggeration," Lee Sung-joon, the spokesman for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a briefing.
The photos released by the North purporting to be of Wednesday's test were also most likely fabricated or recycled pictures from a previous launch, he said.
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The launch was condemned as a serious threat and a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions by South Korea, Japan, and the United States following the summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un last week. They also cautioned against inciting more agitation.
President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea described the mutual defence pact as "anachronistic" during Putin's first visit to North Korea in 24 years, despite Kim hailing it as an alliance.
In a different message, North Korea's defence minister, Kang Sun Nam, denounced as "inexcusable, heinous act against humanity" Ukraine's strike on Crimea using ATACMS missiles supplied by the United States, which Russia claimed resulted in at least four fatalities and 151 injuries.
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The incident demonstrated Washington's role as a "first-rate state sponsor of terrorism," he claimed.
In order for Ukraine to protect its sovereign territories, including Crimea, Washington gave it weaponry, according to the U.S. State Department on Monday.