N Korea tests multiwarhead missile, Kim covets weapon to overwhelm US

North Korea said Thursday it had successfully tested a multiwarhead missile, a sophisticated weapon coveted by leader Kim Jong Un to overwhelm missile defenses in the continental United States. The statement contradicted South Korea's assessment of a failed launch Wednesday of a different type of weapon.

The launch tested the separation and guidance control of individual mobile warheads to ensure the capability of the Multiple Independent Reentry Vehicle, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said. The separated mobile warheads were guided correctly to the three coordinate targets" and a decoy that separated from the missile was verified by radar, it said.

It was North Korea's first known launch event related to the development of a multiwarhead missile, though outside experts believe it was a preliminary test.

KCNA, citing the country's Missile Administration, said it was significant to bolstering North Korea's missile forces and developing missile technologies that testi