North Korea said it had conducted a test launch of tactical ballistic missiles.
The Korean Central News Agency reported on the 13th that "the Missile Administration conducted a test launch of tactical ballistic missiles on the 12th to verify the results of a technical upgrade of an important core component." The agency said the test was "part of the regular activities of the Missile Administration and its affiliated research institutes to advance the technology of weapons systems."
It added that "the Missile Administration announced that the technical upgrade of the core component verified today constitutes a major achievement that heralds a significant change in improving the performance and precision of all offensive weapons systems." The launch was North Korea's 16th ballistic missile test this year and the first in nine days, following one on the 3rd of this month.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said a day earlier that several ballistic missiles had been fired from the area around Pyongyang toward the East Sea in the morning. The launch came four days after the South Korean government disclosed the first test flight of a domestically developed hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), and was seen as a show of force.
News of the missile test appeared only in the Korean Central News Agency, an outlet aimed at external audiences, rather than in the Rodong Sinmun, which is directed at a domestic readership.