N. Korea may fire ICBM toward North Pacific: S. Korea spy agency

By Lim Chang-won Posted : September 4, 2017, 16:50 Updated : September 4, 2017, 17:30

[Yonhap Photo]


North Korea may fire an intercontinental ballistic missile toward the North Pacific when it marks key political events this month or in October, South Korea's spy agency said in a report to parliament.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said that more analysis is needed to determine whether North Korea detonated an electromagnetic pulse-based bomb or a hydrogen bomb, according to Kim Byung-kee, a ruling party lawmaker who attended the closed session of a parliamentary intelligence committee.

The agency mentioned the possibility of North Korea firing an ICBM toward the North Pacific,  the lawmaker told a press briefing, adding the NIS warned of further provocations by North Korea such as a formal ICBM launch when it marks the September 9 anniversary of the regime's establishment and the foundation of its ruling Workers' Party of Korea on October 10.

The NIS concurred with the defense ministry, which has put the test's yield at 50 kilotons. One kiloton is equivalent to 1,000 tons of TNT.

Since 2006, Pyongyang's nuclear tests have been conducted six times in two tunnels, the NIS said, adding North Korea can carry out another nuclear test at any time because it completed the construction of the third tunnel and another is under construction.

In a separate parliamentary session, Defense Minister Song Young-moo said Pyongyang has probably reduced the weight of a nuclear warhead to below 500 kilograms, small enough to be tipped inside an ICBM warhead.

Based on images released by Pyongyang's state media, 38 North, the website of a US research institute, said that Sunday's test likely involved some form of fission-fusion (thermonuclear) reaction, but not necessarily a two-stage device.

The test will undoubtedly provide North Korea with extremely valuable scientific and technical data that will allow it to refine computer models, improve weapons design and validate engineering, 38 North said. Citing various assessments, it cautioned that an actual device would have a somewhat different design.

"Regardless of whether this most recent test was an operational warhead for an ICBM or simply a device, the yield of the test clearly shows North Korean progress in increasing the yields of the nuclear weapons," according to 38 North.

"The significance of this is that it has the potential to dramatically increase the threat posed by its Strategic Force as individual nuclear warheads potentially now have 10-times-greater destructive power."

This would allow fewer missiles to be employed to ensure destruction of a given target, and increase the target set threatened by North Korean ICBMs by allowing a larger number of targets to be engaged with the current missile inventory, 38 North said.

 
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