N. Korea says it tested new rocket system, not missiles
SEOUL. KAZINFORM - North Korea said Thursday it tested a new rocket system in launches conducted the previous day, raising questions about South Korea's assessment that the communist nation is believed to have fired short-range ballistic missiles, Yonhap reports.
Leader Kim Jong-un «guided atest-fire of a newly developed large-caliber multiple launch guided rocketsystem on July 31,» the Korean Central News Agency said.
«The test-fire scientificallyconfirmed that the tactical data and technical characteristics of the new-typelarge-caliber guided ordnance rocket reached the numerical values of itsdesign, and verified the combat effectiveness of the overall system,» theKCNA said.
«After learning about theresult of the test-fire, (Kim Jong-un) said that it is very great and it wouldbe an inescapable distress to the forces becoming a fat target of theweapon,» it added.
The KCNA did not mention anycountry as its potential target, but the report appears to be referring toSeoul, which is apparently within the range of the weapon.
Other North Korean media outlets,including the Rodong Sinmun, the North's official newspaper, also reported onWednesday's launches and provided multiple photos of the tested weapons, butmajor parts were blurred out, apparently to avoid revealing sensitiveinformation.
The reports came a day after South Korea's militarysaid that North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its eastcoast early on Wednesday, saying they were estimated to have flown about 250kilometers at an approximate altitude of 30 km.
Hours later, South Korea held aNational Security Council (NSC) meeting and expressed «strong»concerns over the launches, urging Pyongyang to stop acts that could heightentensions and hamper efforts to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.
Based upon the analysis of thephotos, however, experts said that the weapons appear to be a multiple rocketlauncher system, not missiles, which employs a larger caliber than its previous300-mm version.
«North Korea appears to haveremodeled its 300mm multiple rocket launcher, or KN-09, though it bears somesimilarities to China's 400-mm launcher,» Shin Jong-woo, a senior analystat the Korea Defense Security Forum in Seoul, said.
The new launcher system was seenfired being from a caterpillar-type transporter erector launcher (TEL) whichcan carry a maximum of six launching tubes, while the 300-mm launcher uses awheeled-type TEL with eight tubes, he added.
North Korea has been working toimprove its multiple rocket launchers by adding some features of guidedmissiles, and it is expected to test-fire the new weapon on several moreoccasions down the road, according to the experts.
Asked about differences in itsanalysis of the weapons type from what North Korea claimed to have test-fired,the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) maintained its earlier assessment.
«The South Korean and the U.S.intelligence authorities so far believe that they showed flight featuressimilar to those of a new type of short-range ballistic missiles,» JCSspokesman Col. Kim Jun-rak told a regular briefing.
«The final determination ontheir exact type will be made after South Korean and the U.S. authorities wrapup comprehensive joint analysis into various related information,» headded.
The latest launches came six daysafter North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles from the same areainto the East Sea in its first provocation since May.
Following last week's missiletests, North Korea called the launches a «demonstration of power»aimed at sending a «solemn» warning to South Korea over its jointmilitary drills with the U.S. slated for this month and purchase of high-techfighter jets from the ally.
The series of weapons tests come asWashington has sought to restart working-level talks on dismantling the North'snuclear and ballistic missile programs in line with an agreement reached whenU.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim held a surprise meetingJune 30 at the inter-Korean border.
Despite the North's recent weaponstests, the U.S. has remained upbeat about the prospects for talks with theNorth, with Trump dismissing last week's missiles as «smaller ones»that many countries test. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said Monday(Washington time) he hoped the discussions will resume «very soon.»
Calling the weapons tested thisweek missiles, U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said Wednesday thatthe launches do not represent a violation of leader Kim's promise not toconduct long-range missile tests.
Bolton, known for his hawkish viewson North Korea, questioned the regime's seriousness about resumingdenuclearization talks, however, as he spoke to Fox Business.
«The firing of these missilesdon't violate the pledge that Kim Jong-un made to (U.S. President Donald Trump)about intercontinental-range ballistic missiles,» he said, referring tothe North Korean leader's pledge to suspend nuclear and long-range missiletests.
According to U.S. news reports,North Korean and U.S. officials held a secret meeting at the truce village ofPanmunjom last week, where the North Koreans expressed a willingness to resumeworking-level nuclear talks very soon.