hankyoreh

The fuel tank of the recovered rocket recently launched by North Korea

It was confirmed that the long-range rocket that North Korea fired on Feb. 7 was essentially the same type of rocket as the Eunha-3 fired in Dec. 2012.

“The long-range missile that was fired recently and the long-range missile that was fired in 2012 were found to be identical in all comparable respects, including the first-stage engine nozzle, the length and diameter of the middle stage and the acceleration motor that we recovered,” a military expert who is familiar with the analysis of the debris of the long-range rockets told reporters on Apr. 27. “The two appear to be nearly the same kind of rocket.”

“When we peeled off the paint on the fuel tank that we recovered, we found the number ‘3.’ This suggests that it is very likely that the missile fuselage was painted over where it originally said ‘Eunha-3,’” the expert said.

“We confirmed that anti-corrosive fluoride components were added to the oxidizer, something that we did not find in the 2012 debris,” the expert added.

Before North Korea launched the missile this past February, it raised the gantry at the launchpad from 50m to 67m, raising expectations that it would fire a bigger missile. North Korea also referred to this rocket not as “Eunha-3” but as “Gwangmyeongseong,” creating the impression that it was a different kind of rocket.

The actual trajectory of the rocket launched in February was similar to that of the Eunha-3 in 2012, leading some to suggest that it was likely the same kind of rocket. But this is the first confirmation that the two rockets are of the same type.

This indicates that North Korea has made no major improvements in its missile technology over the past three years.

“There may not be any new technology, but the fact that two consecutive launches have been successful can be seen as an improvement in the reliability of the existing technology,” the expert said.

South Korean military officials analyzed the payload fairing (the nose cone used to protect the satellite) of the North Korean rocket, which they managed to recover for the first time.

“In the payload fairing, we did not find any of the collision prevention or sound reduction equipment necessary to protect the satellite. This provides grounds for thinking that this launch was not about putting a satellite into orbit, as North Korea claims, but rather about developing ballistic missile technology,” the expert said. The lack of this equipment, the expert said, shows that North Korea did not take the trouble to protect the satellite.

“The inside of the fairing was blackened by an explosion at the time of the fairing separation. There is so much soot here that some could also have gotten inside the solar panel on the satellite, which was inside the fairing, and caused a malfunction,” the expert said. “In fact, while the satellite entered orbit on Feb. 7, no signals have been detected from it since Feb. 10. A malfunction of the solar cell could have interrupted the power supply.”

During the rocket launch in February, North Korea detonated the first stage of the rocket after it separated from the rest of the rocket. At the time, around 270 fragments of the first stage fell into the ocean off the west and southern coast of South Korea.

Through three search missions, the South Korean navy managed to recover a number of pieces of the rocket, including the payload fairing, fuel tank, engine nozzle and turbo pump.

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]