North Korea tests cluster bomb missiles; raises alarm in South Korea

North Korea said on Thursday that its latest round of weapons system testing included missiles with cluster-bomb warheads, increasing the country’s ability to strike at neighbor South Korea.

The reports from Noth Korean state media came after the U.S. and South Korea reported detection of the unannounced firing of multiple missiles from an area on North Korea’s eastern coast on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the launches “do not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory or to our allies.” 

But the launches do represent a potential future threat to South Korea, where they caused alarm in national media. Some media speculated that North Korea was taking advantage of the global attention on Iran to flex its military muscle.