(LEAD) N Korea-weapon test

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with S. Korean military's statement and more details)

SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has tested a cluster bomb that can be mounted on tactical ballistic missiles and vowed to field various types of cluster warheads by the end of the year, its state media said Sunday.

The North's Missile Administration conducted the test on Saturday to assess the combat adaptability and power of a cluster-bomb warhead to be mounted on tactical ballistic missiles, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

The research institutes under the Missile Administration "confirmed that Standard Type 2 cluster-bomb warhead is capable of turning into ashes a target area of 12 to 13 hectares with its highest-density power," according to the KCNA.

The general director of the Missile Administration was quoted as stating that the cluster bomb warheads are classified into four categories depending on their purposes.

"Within this year we will enable units to select and use all those types according to operational aims and specific features of targets," the director said.

A cluster bomb releases dozens to hundreds of submunitions, allowing it to strike multiple targets over a wide area.

South Korea's military said it had been monitoring the missile launch, adding that the missile was fired toward the Yellow Sea from an area around the northwestern county of Chongju.

"Under close information sharing between South Korea and the United States, (we) tracked relevant activities before North Korea's missile launch and maintained a readiness posture," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Sunday, a day after the test.

South Korea's military usually announces North Korean ballistic missile launches shortly after they occur.

Shin Jong-woo, secretary-general of the Seoul-based Korea Defense and Security Forum, said the missile appeared to be the Hwasong-11 Ra.

In April, North Korea said it tested cluster bombs mounted on the Hwasong-11 Ra tactical ballistic missile, a launch overseen by leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter Ju-ae.

Saturday's test came amid renewed calls by the top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan for the complete denuclearization of North Korea during their trilateral talks in Atlanta.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said Saturday that President Donald Trump remains open to talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if Pyongyang is willing to discuss issues of concern to Washington and its allies, though no meeting has been scheduled.

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