North Korea announced on the 31st that the cruise missile launched into the West Sea on the 30th was the existing ‘Arrow-2 Type’.

The Korean Central News Agency reported on this day, “The Korean People’s Army conducted a launch exercise of the strategic cruise missile Arrow-2 in the West Sea of ​​Korea on January 30.”

The news agency added, “The training contributed to inspecting our military’s rapid counterattack posture and increasing strategic strike capabilities, and did not have any negative impact on the safety of neighboring countries.”

North Korea's announcement that it has inspected its counterattack readiness is presumed to indicate that it has completed the deployment of missiles and deployed them to front-line units.

North Korea also released a photo highlighting the missile flying at an altitude not far from the ground. It is interpreted as an intention to show off low-altitude flight capabilities.

The missile fuselage was the same as the ‘Arrow-1’ rather than the previously revealed Arrow-2. Accordingly, there is an analysis that North Korea is trying to strengthen the overall performance, such as low-altitude flight and guidance functions, by continuously improving both models rather than strictly distinguishing between the Arrow-1 and Arrow-2 types.

<>The Arrow-2 type, along with the Arrow-1 type, is a long-range cruise missile recently developed by North Korea, and was first test-fired on January 25, 2022. The range is said to be around 1800-2000 km. North Korea has claimed that the Arrow-1 and Arrow-2 types can be equipped with the ‘Hwasan-31’ tactical nuclear warhead.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, North Korea fired several cruise missiles into the West Sea around 7 a.m. the previous day. Starting on the 24th, North Korea staged three cruise missile demonstrations in just six days.