Will North Korea Attack US? Kim Jong Un Supervises Test-Fire Of New Anti-Aircraft Weapon

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guided the test firing of a new anti-aircraft weapon system and ordered its mass production and deployment throughout the country, the state news agency KCNA reported Sunday. The move comes just days after Kim ordered mass production of a medium-range ballistic missile with the ability to reach U.S. bases in the area.

The reclusive nation's latest test was organized by the Academy of National Defence Science, a blacklisted agency believed to be developing missiles and nuclear weapons, KCNA reported without revealing the date and location.

According to KCNA, Kim told the Korean People's Army (KPA) officials and those at the academy that the weapon system's capability had been upgraded in terms of efficiency to detect and track targets, as well as strike accuracy.

Read: THAAD Deployment Will Weaken Kim Jong Un's Leverage, Top US Official Says

"Some defects in the weapon system, discovered last year, were perfectly overcome to stand the test," Kim was quoted as saying in English by the KCNA. "This weapon system, whose operation capability has been thoroughly verified, should be mass-produced to deploy in all over the country like forests so as to completely spoil the enemy's wild dream to command the air, boasting of air supremacy and weapon almighty."

However, experts have raised doubts over the capabilities of the new anti-aircraft missile.

"North Korea tested the new-type anti-aircraft guided weapons system and suggested that they can even hit the stealth aircraft and ballistic missiles, but I think this is exaggeration given their level of technology at this point," Yang Uk, a North Korean expert at advisory committee for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, told NBC News.

The new test comes amid heightened tension in the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's continued nuclear advancements despite receiving tough sanctions and warnings from the United Nations. Pyongyang has threatened to develop missiles that could reach as far as the U.S. mainland. However, experts believe that North Korea is far from developing such a missile.

Over the last few weeks, North Korea conducted several missile tests, with the latest conducted last week. While Pyongyang claimed it successfully tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile, Seoul said the weapon is a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) with a range of up to 1,500 miles.

Earlier this month, South Korean officials said that the North's missile defense program was developing faster than expected.

North Korea warned the U.S. about its recent military drills with South Korea as well as its missile defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), installed in South Korea in April. North Korea has accused the U.S. of escalating tensions with its actions and refers to its missile launches as measures to safeguard its country.

“By relentlessly bringing in a number of strategic nuclear assets to the Korean peninsula, the U.S. is gravely threatening the peace and safety and driving the situation to the brink of nuclear war,” North Korean officials said in a statement in April. “This has created a dangerous situation in which thermo-nuclear war may break out at any moment.”