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North Korea tests cluster-bomb warhead for tactical missiles, vows to field four types by year's end

Seoul • November 1, 2026 • By Press Pass USA

Editorial illustration: a ballistic missile launching at dawn from a coastal launch site, with a bright exhaust plume over a grey sea

Editorial illustration — Press Pass USA

North Korea said Sunday it has tested a cluster-bomb warhead designed for tactical ballistic missiles, and vowed to make four types of cluster warheads available to its military units by the end of the year.

The test, carried out Saturday by the country's Missile Administration, was intended to assess the combat adaptability and destructive power of a cluster-bomb warhead to be mounted on tactical ballistic missiles, state media KCNA reported. It was overseen by Kim Jong-sik, a senior Workers' Party official and member of the Central Military Commission.

Research institutes under the Missile Administration said the Standard Type 2 cluster-bomb warhead can devastate a target area of 12 to 13 hectares — roughly 30 to 32 acres — at its highest density, according to KCNA. A cluster warhead releases many smaller explosive submunitions over a target area, striking multiple points at once. Pyongyang's claims about the weapon's destructive power have not been independently verified.

South Korea's military said it had been monitoring the launch, adding that the missile was fired toward the Yellow Sea from an area around the northwestern county of Chongju. A South Korean defense expert identified the missile as apparently belonging to the Hwasong-11 Ra family, the same system North Korea said it tested with a cluster warhead in April, in a launch overseen by leader Kim Jong Un.

A Missile Administration official said the cluster warheads fall into four categories, including special-purpose and standard types, and that all of them will be made available to military units by the end of 2026, to be selected according to operational purposes and target characteristics.

The test follows another show of force days earlier: North Korea test-fired around 10 ballistic missiles from its east coast toward the sea on Thursday, as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited South Korea for a summit.

Sources: Reuters (Oct 31, 2026); Yonhap News Agency via Korea JoongAng Daily / Seoul Economic Daily (Nov 1, 2026).