SEOUL: North Korea fired two ballistic missiles on Sunday, Seoul's military said, days after Pyongyang announced a successful test of a solid-fuel motor for a new weapons system. Military tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen sharply this year as Pyongyang has carried out an unprecedented blitz of weapons tests, including the launch of its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile ever last month.
Kim said this year that he wants North Korea to have the world's most powerful nuclear force, and declared his country an 'irreversible' nuclear state. The wishlist he revealed last year included solid-fuel ICBMs that could be launched from land or submarines. The latest motor test was a step towards that goal, but it is not clear how far North Korea has come in the development of such a missile, analysts said.