The missile may have failed, but the test is only a failure if the engineers did not learn anything from it. As we have seen in the past, the North Koreans learn from their mistakes and have successfully built a number of capable missile systems:
Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said Sunday that North Korea’s hypersonic missile launched earlier this month was “unsuccessful in its last glide flight” but predicted that the North’s hypersonic missile with an intermediate range could be “successful one day.”
Shin made the assessment during an interview with public broadcaster KBS after the North claimed it successfully test-fired the Hwasongpho-16B, a new intermediate-range ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead.
It appears that North Korea is trying to advance their ballistic missile technology to include hypersonic capabilities:
North Korea fired what appeared to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) into the East Sea on Tuesday, the South Korean military said, in its third ballistic missile launch of the year.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a message to reporters that it detected a missile presumed to be intermediate-range class fired from the Pyongyang region at 6:53 a.m. and the missile flew about 600 kilometers before landing in the East Sea.
Military officials suspect the North may have test-fired an intermediate-range missile equipped with a hypersonic warhead to test the performance of its delivery system following an engine test last month.
On March 20, Pyongyang said it successfully conducted a ground jet test of a solid-fuel engine for a new type of intermediate hypersonic missile.
“North Korea appears to have put a hypersonic warhead on top of the delivery system used in the engine test last month,” a senior military official said on the background.
The only thing surprising about this missile firing is that they did not do this earlier for the start of the Freedom Shield exercise:
North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Monday, the South Korean military said, just hours before talks between the top diplomats of South Korea and the United States.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the missile launches in the area of Pyongyang between 7:44 a.m. and 8:22 a.m., which flew around 300 kilometers and landed in the East Sea.
“North Korea fired at least three missiles, and their trajectories were similar to those of KN-24,” a senior military official said.
The KN-24 is a solid-fuel ballistic missile with a range of up to 410 km and a payload of 400-500 kg.
Considering the reported weapons deal between Russia and North Korea the fact that the Russian military is using cheaply made North Korean missiles should not be a suprise:
A man photographs parts of an unidentified missile, which Ukrainian authorities believe to be made in North Korea and was used in a strike in Kharkiv earlier this week, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Jan. 6. Reuters-Yonhap
The Kharkiv region prosecutor’s office provided further evidence on Saturday that Russia attacked Ukraine with missiles supplied by North Korea, showcasing the fragments.
A senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that Russia hit Ukraine this week with missiles supplied by North Korea for the first time during its invasion.
Dmytro Chubenko, spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office, said the missile, one of several that hit the city of Kharkiv on Jan. 2, was visually and technically different from Russian models.
“The production method is not very modern. There are deviations from standard Iskander missiles, which we previously saw during strikes on Kharkiv. This missile is similar to one of the North Korean missiles,” Chubenko told media as he displayed the remnants.
Kim Jong-il was the OG rocketman, so it is only fitting that his son would have a missile fired on his anniversary:
North Korea fired one short-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Sunday, the 12th anniversary of the death of late leader Kim Jong-il, according to South Korea’s military.
The launch briefly raised speculation that it could be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) because South Korea’s First Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said a few days earlier the North could fire an ICBM within this month.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, however, that the North fired a short-range missile from in or around Pyongyang at about 10:38 p.m. and it flew about 570 kilometers before splashing in the East Sea.
Like it has done just about every August in recent memory, the North Koreans are continuing their offensive on the fish in the East Sea:
North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, South Korea’s military said Thursday, in apparent protest against combined South Korea-U.S. military drills.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from an area in or around Sunan in Pyongyang between around 11:40 p.m. and 11:50 p.m. Wednesday.
The missiles each flew some 360 kilometers before splashing into the waters, the JCS said, with the allies’ intelligence authorities conducting further analysis.
I people are wondering why Japan is growing their military capabilities this is just another example why:
North Korea sent at least two ballistic missiles into Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in waters off Ishikawa Prefecture on Thursday, the Defense Ministry in Tokyo said, further ramping up tensions after a failed satellite launch last month.
Both missiles splashed down some 250 kilometers northwest of Ishikawa’s Hegura Island, traveling about 850 km and 900 km, respectively, Parliamentary Vice Minister of Defense Kimi Onoda told reporters, adding that there had not been any reports of damage to aircraft or ships.
Onoda called the launches into Japan’s EEZ, which extends 200 nautical miles (370 km) from its coast, “absolutely unacceptable” and “a serious matter concerning the safety of residents of the country.”
The launches were the first to land in Japan’s EEZ since mid-February.
The North Koreans are claiming the launches were in response to joint US and ROK live fire exercises:
The allies ended the fifth and last round of the Combined Joint Live-Fire Exercise, the first of its kind in six years, at the Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, just 25 kilometers south of the inter-Korean border, on Thursday to mark the 70th anniversary of the bilateral alliance.
More than 610 military assets were mobilized for the drills, including F-35A fighters and K9 self-propelled howitzers from the South Korean side, and F-16 fighter jets and Gray Eagle drones from the U.S. side.
The North’s defense ministry accused the allies of escalating tensions, saying the drills warrant its “inevitable” response.
“Our army strongly denounces the provocative and irresponsible moves of the puppet military authorities escalating the military tension in the region despite its repeated warnings and warns them solemnly,” the spokesperson said in the statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.
The Kim regime caused another evacuation order yesterday on the Japanese island of Hokkaido due to their latest missile test:
North Korea on Thursday fired what is believed to be a solid-fuel ballistic missile that landed between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, raising fears of possible technical advancement in its weapons program.
Speaking to reporters, a Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) official said North Korea’s military appears to have fired a new type of intermediate-range ballistic missile ― possibly running on solid fuel.
Solid fuel offers greater mobility for missiles and reduces preparation time before launch, compared with liquid fuel that takes more preparation time requiring activities that could be detected, therefore, giving some time for South Korea and the United States to prepare before launch.
“Given the significance of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung birthday on April 15, North Korea highly likely tested its solid-fuel ballistic missile,” Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at the Sejong Institute think tank, told The Korea Times. “The test would give the regime the opportunity to send its defiant message to Seoul and its allies and to promote it as an accomplishment ahead of the politically important anniversary.”
A solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is one of the key weapons on the wish list of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has been expanding and expressing his nuclear ambition following his fruitless summit with then U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019.
The JCS said the missile was fired at a high angle from its capital area and fell into the East Sea after a 1,000-kilometer flight.
North Korea’s latest provocation prompted Japan to issue an evacuation order on Hokkaido. The warning was retracted later when it became obvious that the missile would not fall near the northeastern Japanese island. The country’s defense ministry said the missile could be an ICBM.
North Korea has continued its war against the fish in the East Sea:
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) toward the East Sea on Monday, hours before a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier staged joint drills in waters south of Jeju Island, according to South Korea’s military.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from the Chunghwa County area in North Hwanghae Province between 7:47 a.m. and 8 a.m. The missiles flew some 370 kilometers before splashing into the sea, it added.
Pyongyang’s latest provocation came as South Korea and the United States kicked off the Ssangyong (double dragon) amphibious landing exercise last week. It is scheduled to end next Monday.
The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group also trained together with the South’s major warships in waters south of the peninsula Monday, according to the Navy here.
North Korea has given Vice President Harris some fireworks to welcome her to Seoul:
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) into the East Sea on Wednesday, ratcheting up tensions amid an ongoing South Korea-U.S. naval exercise involving an American aircraft carrier.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from the Sunan area in Pyongyang between 6:10 p.m. and 6:20 p.m., and that the missiles flew some 360 kilometers at apogees of around 30 km at top speeds of about Mach 6.
It did not provide other details, saying the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis to verify the specifics of the missiles.
The launches came just three days after the North fired off an SRBM into the East Sea (….)
The latest saber-rattling came as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris plans to visit Seoul on Thursday and the allies’ Navies are staging an exercise featuring the nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan carrier in the East Sea.
The U.S. carrier, a centerpiece of America’s naval might, arrived here on Friday for the first allied exercise near the peninsula in five years. The four-day exercise is set to run through Thursday.
