The Patriot PAC-3 is designed to shootdown short range ballistic missiles not an intermediate range missile which the category the Musudan falls under. That is what the THAAD system is for:
A medium-range ballistic missile launched Wednesday by North Korea flew at an average speed of Mach 11.3, or 11.3 times faster than the speed of sound, according to an analysis of a timeline seen on a monitor at the launch site.
The hypersonic speed of Mach 11.3 has sharply raised concerns about the capabilities of the Patriotic Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile defense system that the South Korean military has purchased to upgrade its existing PAC-2 missile defense system. The PAC-3 flies at Mach 3.5 to 5 and intercepts incoming missiles at altitudes of up to 40 kilometers (25 miles). [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but a professor at the Korea National Defense University explains in the article that THAAD can shoot down the Musudan. This is all the more reason why both Japan and the ROK should look at either purchasing their own THAAD system or deploying one into theater from the US.
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]
This could be taken as a sign that the sanctions are working at strangling the Kim regime if they are resorting to counterfeiting US dollars that are not as of high quality as the ones seen in the past:
Following initial reports last week that a North Korean agent was arrested in the border city of Dandong in Liaoning Province, northeastern China, multiple sources confirmed Wednesday that the official had been involved in distributing counterfeit U.S. dollars.
After years of circulating counterfeit $100 banknotes, North Korea’s so-called supernotes seemed to have disappeared in recent years. Pyongyang’s forged $100 bills, considered nearly flawless, were a major source of slush funds for the regime and date back to the 1970s. But a major crackdown by U.S. authorities and new security features on banknotes led to a decline in the trade.
The recent arrest indicates their possible resurgence.
One source familiar with Beijing-Pyongyang relations told the JoongAng Ilbo that the agent captured by Chinese officials earlier this month brought $5 million in cash into China from North Korea in order to make payments for household goods and home appliances.
These goods were supposedly distributed to the North Korean people during the April 15 celebration of the birthday of the country’s late founder, Kim Il Sung, as well as during its ruling Workers’ Party’s seventh congress held in early May, the first of its kind in nearly four decades.
Because of international sanctions on North Korea, including those in UN Security Council Resolution 2270 passed in March, Pyongyang is being blocked from financial transactions giving it access to U.S. cash.
“The $5 million was exchanged at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China for some 30 million yuan [$4.6 million] and then deposited,” the source said.
“But a number of the notes were found to be counterfeit $100 bills when they were run through the banknote counter by a bank employee, so Chinese authorities ordered the relevant account be frozen and arrested the North Korean agent.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but this does make me wonder if North Korea is the only country that traffics in state sponsored counterfeiting?
North Korea’s top leader Kim Jong-un (seated) and military officials are elated after watching what the country claimed as a successful launch of its ballistic missile Hwasong-10 in this photo released by the North’s ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun on June 23, 2016. The North claimed success in the June 22 launch of the missile, known as the intermediate-range Musudan in the outside world, saying it flew the targeted 400 km and re-entered the atmosphere after soaring to an altitude of 1,413.6 km. If true, it would mark significant progress in the North’s missile technology. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
