Tag: North Korea

#North Korea's State Security monitors the social media of #defectors , pressures those with families in the north to not to post anti-North Korean regime information.https://t.co/ETVWYaZBai

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) July 30, 2019

It seems besides the strategic messaging to Washington, that the Kim regime is continuing prove that their new missile can accurately fly at different trajectories:

North Korea on Wednesday launched two short-range ballistic missiles from its eastern coast, the second such test in six days. 

According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the missiles were fired at 5:06 a.m. and 5:27 a.m. from an area around Kalma near Wonsan, Kangwon Province. Both projectiles flew around 250 kilometers (155 miles) at an altitude of approximately 30 kilometers before landing in the East Sea, a JCS spokesman said. 

The first missile to be fired was spotted by Korea’s Master Control and Reporting Center (MCRC) and a Navy vessel equipped with the Aegis Combat System, while the second was detected by the MCRC, the ship and early warning radar. 

While it is not yet known what kinds of rocket were launched Wednesday, they may be similar to those fired on July 25, which are believed to be domestically produced variants of the Russian-made 9K720 Iskander missile system, code named KN-23 by South Korean and U.S. intelligence. (…..)

The significant feature of Wednesday’s test was the missile’s low peak altitude of 30 kilometers. South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo at a security forum Wednesday said that South Korean and U.S. intelligence saw in the North’s newest tests “different indicators” than before.

Analysts said Pyongyang may have deliberately chosen to test a variety of trajectories for its KN-23 missile system since May in order to send a message to Seoul and Washington that it possesses the capacity to evade their most sophisticated antimissile defense systems.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but the article once again discusses how the KN-23 can fly lower than the engagement altitude of THAAD. The ROK military rightfully countered that they have Patriot missile batteries that can engage this threat.  

THAAD was never meant to be a magic bullet that engages all threats on the peninsula. THAAD engages targets at higher altitudes than Patriot. One of the main reasons it was deployed was because of the threat of lofted trajectory missiles that North Korea was testing that the Patriot batteries could not engage.

#MoonJaein admin to transfer $8M to #NorthKorea via WFP next week. Meanwhile, NK rejected SK rice aid, shot off more missiles, & warned SK, the day after Chinese & Russian military aircraft intruded KADIZ & a RU aircraft violated SK airspace. Priorities.https://t.co/6EN5QK1GCd

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) July 26, 2019

Here is the latest provocation from North Korea:

North Korea on Thursday fired two new short-range ballistic missiles, Seoul officials said, in an apparent move to put pressure on the United States ahead of possible nuclear talks between the two sides.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that Pyongyang fired one missile toward the East Sea at around 5:34 a.m. and the other at 5:57 a.m. from Hodo Peninsula near its eastern coastal town of Wonsan. They flew around 430 kilometers and 690 km, respectively, both at an altitude of around 50 km. 

The test came 77 days after Pyongyang’s short-range missile launch in early May. (……..)

Experts have said Thursday’s launches appear to have involved the North’s version of Russia’s Iskander, a short-range, ground-to-ground ballistic missile known as KN-23, as it test-fired in May.

Yonhap

What is significant about the Iskander is that it is a solid fuel missile. What this means is that unlike a liquid fuel missile it does not need to be fueled before launching. The act of fueling missiles takes time and could be observed while a solid fuel missile can be simply rolled out and fired.

What About THAAD?

The Iskander also has a lower flight trajectory which gives it a shorter time of flight which reduces decision making time. In the article they claim the Iskander makes the THAAD system ineffective. The article fails to mention there are different missile defense systems for different threats. For lower flying trajectories that is what the Patriot missile batteries located around South Korea are for.

THAAD was never meant to be a magic bullet that engages all threats on the peninsula. THAAD engages targets at higher altitudes than Patriot. One of the main reasons it was deployed was because of the threat of lofted trajectory missiles that North Korea was testing.

Additionally, by using a lofted flight trajectory, North Korea could use medium-range and intermediate-range missiles to strike South Korean targets over shorter distances by firing them at higher angles. For example, on June 22, 2016, North Korea was able to limit the distance of the intermediate-range Musudan missile to around 400 kilometers (from a normal distance of more than 3,000 kilometers) by using this lofting method. In this scenario, the warhead is traveling at a high velocity by the end of its trajectory, thereby undermining the effectiveness of the Patriot missile system.

Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy

Now the North Koreans are testing a lower flying system that Patriot can engage, but once again it is not the flight profile that is of the most concern, it is the solid fuel capability that allows them rapidly fire these missiles with little early warning.

Why Test Now?

So why did the North Koreans fire this missile now? First of all the yet to be named joint US-ROK exercise is still scheduled to be executed next month. The exercise gives the Kim regime cover to conduct this test to further prove its capability. Additionally this keeps pressure on the Trump administration to give-in to North Korean demands to lift some of the sanctions in return for a freeze on missile testing.

Kim Jong-un has always said that he is waiting until the end of the year for a deal to be reached. If a deal is not reached he could restart ICBM testing. He is giving the Trump administration a preview of what he could start doing right in the middle of President Trump’s re-election campaign next year if a deal is not struck.

Just imagine how much more quickly the Kim regime can field this new submarine if they are a wash in South Korean cash from reopening the Kaesong Industrial Complex and the Kumgang Tours:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected a large newly built submarine, state news agency KCNA reported on Tuesday, potentially signaling continued development of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) program.

Kim inspected the operational and tactical data and combat weapon systems of the submarine that was built under “his special attention,” and will be operational in the waters off the east coast, KCNA said.

KCNA said the submarine’s operational deployment was near.

“The operational capacity of a submarine is an important component in national defense of our country bounded on its east and west by sea,” Kim said.

KCNA did not describe the submarine’s weapon systems or say where and when the inspection took place.

North Korea has a large submarine fleet but only one known experimental submarine capable of carrying a ballistic missile.

Analysts said that based on the apparent size of the new submarine it appears designed to eventually carry missiles.

“We can clearly see that it is a massive submarine – much larger than the existing one that’s been well known since 2014,” said Ankit Panda, senior fellow at the U.S.-based Federation of American Scientists.

“What I find significant about the political messaging here is that this is the first time since a February 2018 military parade that he has inspected a military system clearly designed to carry and deliver nuclear weapons.”

Reuters

You can read more at the link, but here is just another example of the international community giving millions of dollars in food aid to a country that is building a completely unnecessary submarine to deliver nuclear weapons instead of feeding its own people.

NYT revealed Mercedes imported to N.Korea via Busan to Vladivostok then to Pyongyang by the ships. Ships once reached Vladivostok, they bring Coal to S.Korea.S.Korea became the route for N.Korea sending Mecedes and take Coal. No wonder why JPN sanction us.https://t.co/W5hUNTKoxx

— Dong Yon Kim/김동연 기자 (@dongyonews) July 16, 2019

I've spent the last week in DC, and it seems a deal with NK is, at last, in the works. Instead of chasing the impossible, diplomats now hope to achieve a more realistic “small deal," and both Trump and Kim have good reason to accept it, I write @nknewsorghttps://t.co/CrCDLu4bvz

— Andrei Lankov (@andreilankov) July 15, 2019

The Kim regime was not going to miss a chance to bash Japan:

North Korean media outlets are strongly criticizing Japan amid growing confrontation between Seoul and Tokyo over Japan’s trade restrictions. 

Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North Korean ruling party, on Wednesday portrayed the Japan’s exports curbs on South Korea as retaliatory measures over the South Korean top court’s decisions on Japan’s forced wartime labor and accused Tokyo of seeking to realize its imperial purposes. 

The paper also asserted that Japan has shown no repentance over its “sinful deeds” in the past and warned the North will not just sit and watch Japan trample the Korean people’s interests. 

KBS World Radio

You can read more at the link, but notice how North Korea bashes Japan for its export restrictions on South Korea as being against the “Korean people’s interests”. This demonstrates how North Korea views South Korean citizens as part of their own population.

What are the unique features of the Yusang-ni Missile Operating Base? Why is it important? @CSIS’s short video answers all of these questions: https://t.co/7gDXqqws58

Want to learn more? Read @BeyondCSISKorea’s report: https://t.co/T2QwXbWnR3 pic.twitter.com/itQqITu43T

— CSIS Korea Chair (@CSISKoreaChair) July 14, 2019