North Korea’s General Directorate of Missile Development conducted a test of a new surface-to-air missile defense system on 20 March, Ukrinform reports, citing North Korea’s state-run KCNA agency.

The test’s purpose was to verify the performance of the new air defense system, which has already entered serial production at a facility within the country’s military-industrial complex.

During the trial launch, the missile successfully struck a simulated aerial target flying at a low altitude over the sea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended the launch and stated that the country’s army would receive “another major defensive weapon system with outstanding combat capabilities.”

South Korea’s military confirmed the launch of several surface-to-air missiles from the port city of Nampo on North Korea’s west coast toward the Yellow Sea.

Meanwhile, North Korea condemned the G7 foreign ministers’ call to abandon its nuclear arsenal and reaffirmed its intention to further expand its weapons stockpile.

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