State media pictures published on May 22 show the test launch of the Pukguksong-2 missile. [Yonhap News Photo]
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the mass-production and field deployment of a new medium-range ballistic missile called "Pukguksong-2", calling it a "perfect" strategic weapon with high accuracy in hitting targets.
The order was made when Kim supervised the test of the missile launched on Sunday near Pukchang in South Pyeongan Province. The South's military said the missile flew more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) after reaching the maximum altitude of about 560 km.
It was the same missile test-fired on February 12. At that time Pyongyang said it has acquired improved technologies related to a nuclear warhead, re-entry and guided flight.
This kind of a missile should be quickly "mass-produced" and deployed for action, Kim said, describing it as a flawless and perfect strategic weapon capable of hitting targets accurately, according to Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
[Yonhap News Photo]
It marked Pyongyang's eighth missile test this year and second in a week. Pyongyang test-fired a missile called Hwasong-12 on May 14. Seoul condemned Sunday's launch as a "reckless and irresponsible act to throw cold water on expectations and aspiration" for peace and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
South Korea's new liberal President Moon Jae-in, who took office on May 10, has urged Pyongyang to create a favorable environment for cross-border dialogue by ceasing provocations. In response, Pyongyang vowed to push ahead with its missile development, scoffing at tough international sanctions and diplomatic pressure.
KCNA said Monday that the Hwasong-12 would put US military bases in Hawaii and Alaska within its range, though experts cast doubt over its capabilities.
The Hwasong-12 is closely related to a road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), but it is seen as a larger variant of the existing Musudan missile, according to Ralph Savelsberg, an associate professor at the Netherlands Defence Academy.
"While the new missile may serve as a testbed for some of the technology intended for an ICBM, the flight-test did not provide evidence of a major step forward in North Korea's ICBM program," he said in an article published by 38 North, the website of a US research institute.
Computer simulations showed that North Korea has yet to demonstrate a working re-entry vehicle with a heat shield suitable for an ICBM, he said, adding this was most likely flown with an empty re-entry vehicle. "I assume that this was the case for the Hwasong-12 as well."
The Hwasong-12 appears to be a longer, lighter version of the Musudan, with its main engine "not significantly more powerful" than those tested earlier, the expert said.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
