Category: North Korea

North Korea claims that their recent launch of two missiles from railway cars was a short notice training operation to test readiness of the unit:

North Korea said Saturday its railway-based missile regiment conducted a firing drill a day earlier, with two tactical guided missiles hitting a set target in the East Sea.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported the unit in North Pyongan Province bordering China staged the drill aimed at “checking and judging the proficiency” in its action procedures.

It marks the North’s second known missile test using a railway launch platform since the last one in September, and the country’s third show of force this year.

“The regiment received a firepower mission at short notice from the General Staff in the morning on Friday before swiftly moving to the firing ground, and precisely struck the set target in the East Sea of Korea with two tactical guided missiles,” the KCNA said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

These sanctions may make it harder for these North Koreans to do business, but it seems North Korea can just get new people to replace them if the sanctions make it to hard to do business for them:

The United States said Wednesday that it is designating six North Korean individuals related to North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs.

The Department of Treasury said it is designating five North Korean individuals — one based in Russia and four in China — for illegally procuring materials for the North’s WMD and ballistic missile programs.

The Department of State also designated an additional North Korean individual based in Russia for a similar reason.

“Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated five Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) individuals responsible for procuring goods for the DPRK’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile-related programs,” the treasury department said in a press release, referring to North Korea by its official name.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It wasn’t that long ago when in South Korea people were using human waste as fertilizer as well. North Korea is still just stuck decades in the past due to their isolationism:

North Korea is asking its citizens to use their own poop to make manure as the country faces widespread food shortages, reports say.

The country has long sourced its agricultural manure from China, but that trade, along with a number of other goods, ceased after North Korea closed its borders at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result, North Korea has declared securing enough manure the first “struggle” of 2022, Daily NK reported.

State-run media has also been encouraging people to make “homemade” manure, The Daily Beast reported. A source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK that residents had started “producing fertilizer from human waste” after authorities launched a 10-day drive to increase production.

Citizens were told to produce a quota of 150 kilograms of manure, with people working in state factories told to provide 500 kilograms between January 4 and January 14, Daily NK reported.

The Insider

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on North Korea’s recent missile test:

 North Korea said Wednesday it has successfully conducted the “final” test-firing of a new hypersonic missile a day earlier as its leader Kim Jong-un called for the strengthening of the country’s “strategic military muscle both in quality and quantity” during an on-site inspection. 

“The superior maneuverability of the hypersonic glide vehicle was more strikingly verified through the final test-fire,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. “The test-fire was aimed at the final verification of overall technical specifications of the developed hypersonic weapon system.” 

The hypersonic glide vehicle demonstrated “glide jump flight,” “corkscrew maneuvering” and hit “the set target in waters 1,000 km off,” it added with regard to Tuesday’s launch. It marked the third known test-firing of what the secretive North claims to be a hypersonic missile, with the second one conducted last week.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the U.S. and ROK military are both still conducting analysis to determine if North Korea’s claims are true.

Here is what the ROK military had to say about North Korea’s recent missile launch:

North Korea’s ballistic missile launched Tuesday flew at a top speed of Mach 10, South Korea’s military said, taking note of “improvement” compared with what it claimed to be a hypersonic missile test six days ago.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the North fired the missile from its northern province of Jagang into the East Sea, and that it flew more than 700 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 60 km and at a top speed of Mach 10, 10 times the speed of sound.

The launch was detected at 7:27 a.m, the JCS said. It followed the test-firing of the North’s self-proclaimed hypersonic missile, which the JCS said traveled less than 700 km at a top speed of Mach 6.

“We assess that it has improved compared with the ballistic missile launched on Jan. 5,” the JCS said in a text message, calling the regime’s continued launches of ballistic missiles a “clear” violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the improved speed to mach 10 does not necessarily mean this was a hypersonic missile. The ROK JCS says they are still doing analysis of the launch.

This should not really be surprising to anyone that has been following North Korea that they have underground facilities to hide their aircraft in:

North Korea’s fighter jets are heading to its mountains, where its concealed air bases are located.  
   
The JoongAng Ilbo confirmed in a report Monday through satellite imagery from Google Earth that North Korea’s Air Force bases are either built in mountains, or its taxiways and runways link underground bases.    
   
The exceptions are the Sunan Airport near Pyongyang and Kalma Airport near the Wonsan in Kangwon Province.  
   
The Uiju airfield located in North Pyongan Province, near the border with China, which has recently been equipped with quarantine facilities in preparation for North Korea to open up trade with China, is also connected to the mountains through a taxiway. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.