Pyongyang's Musudan missile could be operational next year: US expert

By Park Sae-jin Posted : October 18, 2016, 09:28 Updated : October 18, 2016, 09:28

A pile picture on North Korea's missile launch.[Yonhap News Photo]


North Korea's road-mobile intermediate ballistic missile could be operational faster than expected and probably next year, a US expert said after analyzing last week's failed launch.

Pyongyang tested an intermediate missile on Saturday but Washington said it exploded shortly after take-off. It was the seventh test this year of the Musudan (Hwasong-10) missile with an estimated range of more than 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles) that could reach as far as Guam.

There have been doubts about North Korea's ability to miniaturize a nuclear warhead to be mounted on an inter-continental ballistic missile, despite its claim to have mastered re-entry technology.

In June, Pyongyang test-launched two Musudan missiles. One soared to a maximum altitude of 1,413.6 kilometers and fell some 400 kilometers away, Pyongyang's state media said, adding the missile made a safe flight  enduring the heat at the re-entry stage.

The latest launch could be part of a field test, John Schilling said in his article published by 38 North, the website of a US research institute.

Pyongyang is not simply repeating old failures, he said, suggesting the Musudan missile "could enter operational service sometime next year–much sooner than had previously been expected".

"After a decade of keeping it on the back burner, the North Koreans are clearly committed to the Musudan. Another seven months of training and practice could bring them to a real initial operational capability," he said.

Unlike previous tests in Musudan-ri, Schilling said last week's launch appeared to have been staged in a roadside near Pyongyang. One possibility is that a west coast launch allows North Korea to achieve a longer range without overflying other countries, he said, because previous tests from Musudan-ri were limited to 400 kilometers or so to avoid Japanese airspace.

"And now one test in the field, a complete failure. Seven launches in seven months -- a rate greater than most US strategic missile programs," he said.

Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
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