hankyoreh

On Aug. 11

Following the test of two short-range missiles near Hamhung, South Hamgyong Province, on Aug. 10, North Korean state media announced the test firing of a new weapon on Aug. 11 along with pictures showing that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had observed the missile test. While North Korea did not reveal any specific name or characteristics about these missiles, North Korea experts say that the country has tried to show off a troika of its “ground-to-ground” weaponry by publicizing the North Korean version of the Iskander missile, a new kind of rocket launcher, and, now, a new type of tactical ground-to-ground ballistic missile.

The Rodong Sinmun, the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee’s daily newspaper, announced on its front page that Kim Jong-un had observed the test firing of the new weapon on Aug. 10. The newspaper also stated that the country had succeeded in test firing a series of powerful new tactical weapons and that a “detailed analysis of the outcome of the test-fire [sic] proved that the new weapon system’s superior and powerful design requirements were perfectly realized.” This statement appears to refer to the seven tests of short-range missiles by North Korea starting from May 4 to Aug. 10. The Rodong Sinmun further stated that these missile tests completed the WPK’s recently “proposed direction for research and development” of its new weapons systems.

South Korean government officials and military experts consider the projectile launched by North Korea on Aug. 10 to be a new ground-to-ground short-range tactical ballistic missile. Some analysts say that North Korea’s troika of ground-to-ground weaponry is similar to South Korea’s own troika of missiles: the Hyunmu, Cheonmu and the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS). This is because North Korea’s most recent missile test comes after the testing of the KN-23, a new kind of short-range ballistic missile referred to as North Korea’s version of the Iskander (tested on May 4 and 9, and again on July 25 and Aug. 6), along with the testing of a new type of multi-tube rocket launcher.

Most analysts agree that North Korea’s new missiles are “upgraded” versions of older weapons in North Korea’s arsenal. The KN-23, for example, has a longer range of 600km than the older Scud-C missile in North Korea’s armory that has a range of only 500km. The new type of multi-tube rocket launcher tested in July and August has a range of around 200km, which is a far cry from the 70km range of older rocket launchers possessed by North Korea. The new tactical ground-to-ground ballistic missile tested on Aug. 10, meanwhile, has a range of 400km, an improvement from the 300km range boasted by the North’s older Scud-B missile. A South Korean government official told the Hankyoreh, “The new type of weapon tested on Aug. 10 is very similar to the ATACMS in appearance,” adding, “It feels like North Korea is now acquiring ground-to-ground weapons similar to South Korea.”

The missile tested by North Korea on Saturday uses solid fuel, just like other missiles recently tested by the country. Unlike liquid fuel, solid fuel does not require “fuel up” time or for the missiles to be stationed in a specific place. Solid fuel missiles are both easy to move around and conceal. Missiles running on liquid fuel need time to fuel up so their effectiveness is reduced given the advancement of military technology, including missile defense systems. Missile defense systems identify the location of incoming missiles and buy time for military forces to accurately intercept them.

While observing the firing of the missile on Saturday, Kim Jong-un stated that the “new weapon was developed to suit the terrain condition [sic] of our country [. . .] and has [a] superior tactical character which is different from the existing weapon systems.” Theoretically at least, given North Korea’s highly mountainous terrain, North Korea’s use of missiles with solid fuel and transporter erector launchers (TEL) make them easier to conceal and mobilize than before.

“The fact that the missiles have a slightly longer range, their flying altitudes are lower and their speed has increased, along with the fact that they all use solid fuel and TEL, means that their time to launch has been reduced and they can be launched from a diverse range of places. All of these factors make it difficult for US and South Korean intelligence assets to identify and conduct preemptive attacks. Ultimately, North Korea aims to neutralize [South Korea’s] missile defense system,” Kim Dong-yub, director of research at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, told the Hankyoreh. “At the end of the day, North Korea appears to be developing a low-cost, high-efficiency system to achieve deterrence across the entire Korean Peninsula with traditional weaponry, not nuclear weapons.”

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

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