Sunday launch is ‘much more concerning than satellite launches’ because test represents ‘level of performance never before seen from North Korean missile’
North Korea’s latest missile launch suggests a major step forward in Kim Jong Un’s quest to develop a nuclear tipped intercontinental ballistic missile that could strike the U. S. mainland, analysts say.
Pyongyang claimed on Monday that the missile it fired over the weekend was a « new ground-to-ground medium long-range strategic ballistic rocket » capable of carrying « a large, heavy nuclear warhead. »
The missile, dubbed the Hwasong-12, was launched at a high trajectory on Sunday, reaching an altitude of 2,111.5 kilometers and traveling 787 kilometers before landing in the sea near Russia, the North’s official news agency KCNA reported.
« The test-fire proved to the full all the technical specifications of the rocket, » KCNA said. « It also verified the homing feature of the warhead under the worst re-entry situation and accurate performance of detonation system. »
This image made from video of a news bulletin aired by North Korea’s KRT on May 15,2017, shows what was said to be the launch of the Hwasong-12 missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea.
Technical progress?
South Korea’s military, however, minimized the Kim regime’s claim of technical progress in re-entry technology, which, if successful, allows a warhead to reach its target without burning up while re-entering the atmosphere. The military said that although more analysis is required to verify the North Korean claim, « we believe the possibility of that is low. »
North Korea has made no secret of its desire to develop an ICBM capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the U. S. mainland, but many had believed it was far from mastering the re-entry technology needed for perfecting an ICBM, which uses similar engineering in early flight stages.
The Trump administration has made stopping the development of a North Korean ICBM a top priority, and stressed the U. S. would consider military action to take out launching sites and nuclear facilities, if needed.
Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told VOA that « this is definitely a step toward an ICBM technology, so I find this kind of launch much more concerning than the satellite launches.
