North Korea has tested what experts describe as a “devil’s weapon”, a short-range ballistic missile equipped with a cluster bomb warhead, marking a significant escalation in its evolving military capabilities and raising fresh concerns about civilian risks in any future conflict.According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Pyongyang conducted a series of weapons tests between April 6 and 8, including the launch of a Hwasong-11ga, also known as the KN-23, fitted with a cluster munition warhead. The development signals North Korea’s increasing focus on battlefield lethality and area-denial capabilities. What makes cluster bombs the ‘devil’s weapon’?Cluster munitions are widely considered among the most controversial weapons in modern warfare. A single missile or bomb releases dozens to hundreds of smaller submunitions mid-air, dispersing them across a wide target area.This characteristic has earned them the nickname “devil’s weapon” due to their indiscriminate nature. Unlike conventional precision strikes, cluster bombs do not distinguish between military and civilian targets. Many submunitions also fail to explode on impact, remaining on the ground as unexploded ordnance, posing long-term threats to civilians.