Yonhap: North Korea Preparing New Medium Range Missile Launch
On April 15, the North failed to launch what was likely a Musudan
missile that could hit Japan and also theoretically the US territory of
Guam.
The South’s Yonhap news agency on Tuesday quoted unidentified government sources as saying the North had readied a medium-range Musudan missile for an imminent test launch.
North Korea claimed Saturday it conducted a submarine-launched ballistic missile test personally supervised by Kim Jong Un. Hours before the announcement by North Korea’s state media Sunday, South Korean military officials said the North had fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile from a submarine off its eastern coast.
“It will not take too long before North Korea modifies their Sinpo-class submarine and increases the SLBM’s range to more than the current 30 kilometers, to threaten attacks on the USA military bases in South Korea, and as “strategic leverage” against Washington”, Kim said.
Kim Jong-Un is expected to use the event to cement his position as supreme leader and to take credit for pushing his country’s nuclear weapons program to new heights.
A South Korean expert said even if this launch was indeed a “failure”, as Seoul claims, it doesn’t change the fact that this technology will be a threat to Seoul and Washington.
On Tuesday, the US warned that they will come up with new sanctions or security steps should North Korea continue its ballistic missile testing.
The South Korean Defence Ministry predicts that the North will be able to deploy SLBMs within the next three to four years.
“Since the regime is already equipped with nuclear materials and a test site, another nuclear test wouldn’t incur in a lot of additional costs for North Korea”.
Since then, many countries joined efforts to pressure Pyongyang by banning North Korean ships from their ports, Mr Lee said.
North and South Korea remain technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, rather than a treaty.
Tensions have been running high on the divided Korean peninsula since the North’s last nuclear test in January, and Pyongyang has issued repeated threats of a direct attack on the Blue House, which houses President Park Geun-Hye’s offices and residence.
The standoff deepened earlier this year when North Korea conducted a fourth nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch, which led to the United Nations slapping its toughest sanctions on North Korea in 20 years.
The crippling worldwide sanctions imposed on North Korea for its nuclear tests have been taking its toll on the country, as Kim announced in late March that North Korea could be headed for another starvation like the one that killed an estimated 3.5 million people in the 1990s.
The South’s Yonhap news agency on Tuesday quoted unidentified government sources as saying the North had readied a medium-range Musudan missile for an imminent test launch.
North Korea claimed Saturday it conducted a submarine-launched ballistic missile test personally supervised by Kim Jong Un. Hours before the announcement by North Korea’s state media Sunday, South Korean military officials said the North had fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile from a submarine off its eastern coast.
“It will not take too long before North Korea modifies their Sinpo-class submarine and increases the SLBM’s range to more than the current 30 kilometers, to threaten attacks on the USA military bases in South Korea, and as “strategic leverage” against Washington”, Kim said.
Kim Jong-Un is expected to use the event to cement his position as supreme leader and to take credit for pushing his country’s nuclear weapons program to new heights.
A South Korean expert said even if this launch was indeed a “failure”, as Seoul claims, it doesn’t change the fact that this technology will be a threat to Seoul and Washington.
On Tuesday, the US warned that they will come up with new sanctions or security steps should North Korea continue its ballistic missile testing.
The South Korean Defence Ministry predicts that the North will be able to deploy SLBMs within the next three to four years.
“Since the regime is already equipped with nuclear materials and a test site, another nuclear test wouldn’t incur in a lot of additional costs for North Korea”.
Since then, many countries joined efforts to pressure Pyongyang by banning North Korean ships from their ports, Mr Lee said.
North and South Korea remain technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, rather than a treaty.
Tensions have been running high on the divided Korean peninsula since the North’s last nuclear test in January, and Pyongyang has issued repeated threats of a direct attack on the Blue House, which houses President Park Geun-Hye’s offices and residence.
The standoff deepened earlier this year when North Korea conducted a fourth nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch, which led to the United Nations slapping its toughest sanctions on North Korea in 20 years.
The crippling worldwide sanctions imposed on North Korea for its nuclear tests have been taking its toll on the country, as Kim announced in late March that North Korea could be headed for another starvation like the one that killed an estimated 3.5 million people in the 1990s.
