The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday tested a newly developed air defense missile and staged a live-fire cruise missile strike exercise against a simulated airport, according to KCNA, the DPRK's state news agency and its only report on the tests. The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Republic of Korea detected multiple launches towards the East Sea. Yonhap called it the DPRK's fourth weapons test in a week. The launches came during Freedom Flag, a US-ROK air exercise with air defense and air interdiction missions. ROK officials called the tests a response to the exercises. KCNA gave no such reason, but a DPRK Defense Ministry spokesman called the freedom flag a provocation on Oct. 30 and vowed to deter it by force. A ROK analyst says the new missile guidance section is similar to that used in Russia's S-400 system, though that alone does not indicate any Russian involvement. Analysts read the pair of tests as one idea: to protect the DPRK's skies, and to threaten opposing aircraft at their airfields. here.