North Korea wasted little time jump-starting work on its missile ambitions in the new year. Early on New Year’s Day, the Korean People’s Army test-fired its “super-large multiple launch rocket system” (MLRS). Known to the U.S. intelligence community as the KN-25, this 600mm system first appeared in 2019 and has been a mainstay of short-range missile testing and exercises by North Korea ever since.

Among the new capabilities the DPRK has introduced since it resumed missile testing following the collapse of the Hanoi summit, the KN-25 hasn’t necessarily been a standout. The KN-23 and