N. Korea's Thanksgiving Day test Demonstrates an Improvement in the Speed of Missile Crews
SEOUL Article Content North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed "great satisfaction" over the latest test of a massive multiple-rocket launcher, state media reported on Friday, a launch experts said showcased improving performance of the system and its crews.
Two short-range projectiles were fired by North Korea into the sea off its east coast on Thursday in the fourth test of its "super-large multiple rocket launcher" South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), stated at a briefing.
N.Korea's Thanksgiving Day test demonstrates increased speed for missile crews. Back to video
The latest test of the KN-25 missile was an Thanksgiving Day reminder to the United States of a year-end date Kim has set for Washington to show flexibility in their denuclearisation talks that are stalled.
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Article content The string of tests conducted since the KN-25 was first unveiled in August show the North Koreans steadily improving their capability to rapidly launch multiple rockets from their mobile launch vehicles.
Experts said that this capability increases the likelihood that North Korean rocket crews could quickly deploy, fire, and move in case of war before being snatched by South Korean forces or American forces.
"The quicker it fires, the quicker it can (get) out of the way before it is hit by counter-fire," Jeffrey Lewis, an expert on missiles at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), said on Twitter.
"READY FOR DEPLOYMENT!"
The JCS stated that the missiles fired during the September and August KN-25 tests were conducted 17 minutes and 19 minutes respectively.
Article content The crews had cut the interval to three minutes at the end of October, while the gap between the missiles was only 30 seconds on Thursday.
"The volley test fire that was designed to finally examine combat application of the super-large multiple-launch rocket systems, demonstrated the technological and military superiority of this weapon and its solid reliability," KCNA stated.
Photos released by KCNA showed missiles being fired from a transporter-erector-launcher equipped with four launcher tubes.
Experts believe that the latest short-range missiles are a direct threat against South Korea and U.S forces stationed there.
The missiles traveled as far as 338 km (236 miles) and reached an altitude of 97 km according to the JCS, putting nearly all of South Korea within range.
Article content "North Korea is trying selectively to modernize its conventional force in a low-cost and high-efficiency fashion to concentrate on economics and to reassure its military as nuclear talks are taking place," said Kim Dongyub, a former South Korean Navy officer and professor at Kyungnam University, Seoul.
"The system is ready for mass production and deployment," said the latest test.
COUNT DOWN TO A DEADLINE
A spokesman at Seoul's Unification Ministry in charge of inter-Korean relations on Friday urged the North to stop any actions that may heighten military tension and to resume dialogue.
Kim has set an end-year date to restart talks with the United States which remain stalemated after a working-level meeting last month broke down.
Article content North Korea demonstrated progress in the development of conventional weapons while negotiating with Washington.
South Korean lawmakers said on Friday that an intelligence agency had reported increased movement in vehicles and other equipment at the Tongchangri missile launch site that Pyongyang said it had demolished in the past year.
It also tested new missiles that were like Russia's SS-26 Iskander in the early portion of the year. welcome to tlauncher club They are small but more difficult to conceal launch, conceal, and maneuver in flight.
North Korea demanded that the sanctions be lifted and warned it could follow the "new course." This raises doubts about North Korea's possible return to long-range and nuclear missile testing, which has been suspended since.
Stephen Biegun, the U.S.'s most powerful nuclear negotiator said last week that the year-end deadline was artificial but could be a sign of a return to the "provocative" actions taken before the past two years. (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith; Editing by Sandra Maler and Stephen Coates)