Tag: North Korea

North Korea is claiming its newest short range ballistic missile has completed testing and is ready for deployment:

The two missiles North Korea fired from an airfield near Pyongyang Monday morning appeared to be KN-24 tactical guided missiles that are in production for deployment, according to state media on Tuesday.  
   
The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency reported that the Academy of Defense Science supervised the launch of the tactical guided missiles to test their accuracy and efficiency, and that both precisely hit their targets in the eastern waters off the Korean Peninsula.  
   
Descriptions of the “tactical guided missiles” in the state media reports suggested they were KN-24 short-range ballistic missiles, which would be their fourth test by the regime, following two tests in August 2019 and one in March 2020.  
   
The KN-24 is a single-stage missile powered by a solid propellant and launched from a mobile platform. Previous state media reports claim the missile is capable of maneuvering in mid-flight to avoid mid-air interception.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It looks like North Korea needed to get some needed aid from China:

A North Korean freight train crossed the Yalu River railroad bridge into China on Sunday, multiple sources said, raising the prospect of the two sides resuming land transactions in earnest following more than a year of suspension attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The train from Sinuiju arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong at around 9:10 a.m., they said, while it was not immediately confirmed whether it carried cargo or was empty, they said.

It is likely to return to North Korea on Monday, with “emergency materials” loaded, according to a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

It marks the first time that the secretive North has formally opened its land border with China in 1 1/2 years. It has closed borders, with all tour programs for foreigners and the operation of cross-border passenger trains halted, since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The North Koreans are having a busy few days launching missiles. I wonder if this part of the short notice readiness exercise they claimed to have conducted a couple of days ago?:

North Korea fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles eastward from an airfield in Pyongyang on Monday, South Korea’s military said, in the recalcitrant regime’s fourth show of force this year.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the projectiles fired from the Sunan airport at 8:50 a.m. and 8:54 a.m., respectively, and that they flew about 380 kilometers at an altitude of 42 km.

“For more specific information, the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis,” the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters without further elaboration.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

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.

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.