As we have seen with other North Korean missiles the more they test, the better they get at mastering the technology:
North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) off its east coast on Saturday, but the missile failed in its initial flight stage, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
The missile was fired from waters southeast of the coastal port city of Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province, at around 11:30 a.m., according to the military.
“The SLBM was ejected from the submarine normally, but (we) estimate the initial flight was unsuccessful,” the JCS said in a brief press release.
“Our military strongly denounces such provocative acts by North Korea,” the JCS noted.
North Korea’s ballistic missile launches are direct violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions, including its Musudan missile launches on June 22 and the latest launch, the military said.
Military sources said the latest SLBM appears to have exploded at an altitude of some 10 kilometers after being fired from a submerged 2,000-ton Sinpo-class submarine.
The missile flew only a few kilometers before the presumed explosion, they said.
South Korea’s military said that North Korea has achieved progress in the initial undersea ejection stage of its SLBM technology.
The North is probably in the flight test stage of its SLBM before moving onto the final test phase that will require the missile to hit targets, the sources said.
The North may be ready to deploy its SLBMs for service in about three years, according to the military. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but out of all of North Korea’s missiles this is the most dangerous and a game changer because it can defeat missile defenses. That is because submarines can fire without notice from any direction which prevents missile defense units from knowing in which direction to point their radars towards.
In the least surprising news of the day, the spies over at the NIS have disclosed that Kim Jong-un is fat and out of shape:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is currently suffering from insomnia, as well as diseases caused by obesity, South Korea’s intelligence agency said Friday, adding he has gained 40 kilograms over the past four years.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in its report to a meeting of the parliament’s intelligence committee that Kim is presumed to weigh 130 kilograms, a jump from 90 kilograms when he took office in 2012.
Rep. Lee Cheol-woo of the ruling Saenuri Party, who chairs the committee, said Kim is currently under great stress due to his safety, which has led to excessive binge eating and drinking.
Kim also fears that overseas media reports on his childhood may spread throughout Pyongyang, which may hurt his legitimacy as the leader of North Korea. [Yonhap]
Not that I don’t believe this is probably happening, but anonymous North Korean sources I always keep some skepticism about:
North Korea has been diverting U.N. food aid for its infants to other uses, a group of defectors from the communist state claimed Friday, stressing the need for stronger oversight over the humanitarian aid program.
The North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity said that North Korean officials have taken away powedered milk and other items for infants and toddlers, and provided them to ranking military and party officials, who then sold them on the black markets for profit.
“Many packs of flour and milk powder, which the United Nations has provided for North Korean infants, have been circulating on the market,” the group said, quoting an anonymous North Korean source.
“In the presence of outside monitoring staff, North Korean officials pretend to distribute food aid to infants as planned, but later they take it away,” the source was quoted by the group as saying. [Yonhap]
If North Korea continues with their heavy flight testing schedule this seems like it could be a realistic estimate:
The North Korean military test launches one of two Musudan missiles Wednesday, June 22, 2016, in this photo from North Korean media outlet Rodong Sinmun.
North Korea’s missile launch was a “partial success” that suggests the provocative country could have a road-mobile ICBM capable of reaching the U.S. mainland by early next decade, a U.S. think tank says.
After failing in four previous tries, the North fired back-to-back Musudan missiles in just over two hours Wednesday. The first was considered another failure, but the second flew 620 to 880 miles high before falling into the Sea of Japan.
The actual distance traveled — 250 miles — was well short of its potential range that would put it within range of Japan and U.S. bases in the region. Experts said the missile was fired at a high angle to avoid provoking Japan, but the ability to achieve that altitude shows that the North Koreans are making technical progress.
The U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, in its 38north.org blog, called the test a “partial success.” But it noted that six tests since mid-April despite repeated failures suggest the Musudan is not the North’s long-term focus.
“This isn’t so much an engineering program so much as an exercise in tossing a coin or rolling a die until it comes up with the result they like,” analyst John Schilling wrote in Thursday’s post.
However, he said, it was the first time the Musudan’s engine, which is shared by North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missiles, was flight tested. Previous tests either crashed or exploded prematurely.
“This partial success increases the likelihood that North Korea’s KN-08 and KN-14 road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) will reach operational status early in the next decade,” he said.
“We still don’t expect them to have those missiles operational before 2020, but early flight testing by that date is increasingly likely,” he added. [Stars & Stripes]
