Pyongyang tests upgraded rocket system with extended range

North Korea said that it had test-fired shells from an upgraded 240mm multiple-launch rocket system, stressing the need to deploy its “deadliest” attack forces along the border with South Korea.

The test of upgraded 240mm-caliber guided multiple-launch rockets was conducted on September 22 as part of Pyongyang’s five-year plan to modernize its artillery and missile forces, Yonhap reports.

Senior military officials overseeing the test said “the development of range-extended rockets assures them of a significant change in the firepower readiness along the southern border”.

Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party, stressed the need to concentrate the deadliest and destructive attack forces on the southern border.

“He underscored the need to make the enemy aware of the fact that we have replaced all our armed forces' long-range strike means with the latest ones at the earliest date,” he noted.

According to the report, the rockets are equipped with an “autonomous pinpoint guide system” and can strike targets up to 100 kilometres away in trajectory flight mode and up to 115 kilometres away in combined glide mode.

Since North Korea declared inter-Korean relations to be those between “two states hostile to each other” in 2023, Pyongyang appears to have focused on improving the capabilities of strike systems that could place South Korea within their range.

By Vafa Guliyeva