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An ICBM North Korea unveiled during a military parade celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang on Oct. 10. (Rodong Sinmun website/Yonhap News)

Nam Sae-kyu, head of South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD), said on Oct. 20 that North Korea’s recent advances in missile technology had cut South Korea’s 20-year lead by more than half.

Nam made the comments during the parliamentary audit for the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), in the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee on Tuesday. He’d been asked about the level of the weapons that appeared in a recent North Korean military parade.

“We have a considerable lead [in terms of missile and guided-weapon technology],” Nam said. “I’d thought we were 20 years ahead in terms of solid-fuel ballistic projectiles and missiles, but [seeing North Korea’s military parade] made me think they’ve really cut into our lead, that they’ve reduced it by more than half.”

“I got the impression that North Korea has made incredible practical advances over the past five years. The North is [developing] much faster than we thought.”

Nam also commented on the new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that North Korea unveiled in the military parade. “The launch vehicle has 11 axles, but North Korea doesn’t have the infrastructure or factories to build that kind of vehicle. I guess they smuggled in a logging truck or assembled it from imported parts.”

Nam said that the North’s new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), called the Pukguksong-4ㅅ (ㅅ is a Korean letter), “seems to be nearly the same size as the Pukguksong-3. The exterior looks similar, with a diameter of around 1.7 meters. So I don’t think there would be much of a difference in its range.”

Nam observed that the new missile differs from the Pukguksong-3 in regard to the location of its first-stage propulsion system. “They seem to have changed that because of an issue with flight stability [in the Pukguksong-3]. That suggests that the North has obtained considerable ability in developing solid-fuel ballistic missiles,” Nam said.

Nam said the reason for North Korea’s rapid development of missile technology is that “the North lets its researchers focus on their work. The researchers are told to focus on the progress they make despite various failures and other issues. But South Korean researchers are forced to deal with a lot of issues before moving forward, which is why it takes us longer to get results.”

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer

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