N. Korea says it test-fired new tactical ballistic missile capable of carrying super-large warhead

SEOUL, North Korea has test-fired a new tactical ballistic missile capable of carrying a super-large warhead, state media reported Tuesday, a day after South Korea said the North fired two missiles and one of them could have failed. North Korea successfully launched the Hwasong-11Da-4.5 missile capable of carrying a 4.5 ton-class super-large warhead on Monday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "The test-fire was conducted with a missile tipped with a simulated heavy warhead to verify flight stability and hit accuracy at the maximum range of 500 kilometers and the minimum range of 90 km," the KCNA said. It added the country will conduct another test of the missile in July to "verify flight characteristics, hit accuracy and explosion power of super-large warhead at the medium range of 250km." South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Monday North Korea fired two ballistic missiles in a northeastern direction from a western region. One of them flew about 600 kilometers before landing in the East Sea, but the other traversed only about 120 km before its trail disappeared from radar. The JCS said the second missile appears to have flown abnormally during the early stage of its flight and that if it exploded in midair, its debris could have fallen inland. Source: Yonhap News Agency