N. Korea May be Closer to Full ICBM Test
Fresh satellite images suggest North Korea might be wrapping up engine trials on an intercontinental ballistic missile, fuelling speculation of a full-scale flight test to come, a U.S. think-tank said Wednesday.
Development of a working ICBM would be a game-changing step, bringing the continental United States into range and adding a whole new threat level to the North's regular nuclear-strike warnings.
"The rocket engine test program may wind down by the end of this year," The U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said on its closely followed 38 North website.
"If the engine tests are concluded, the next stage in development of the KN-08 road-mobile ICBM may be full-scale flight tests of the missile," it added.
It stressed, however, that it was unclear just how successful the tests had been.
Regular satellite analysis has shown a major construction program underway at North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launching Station since mid-2013, focused on upgrading facilities to handle larger, longer-range rockets with heavier payloads.
Although there is no doubt that North Korea has an extremely active ballistic missile development program, expert opinion is split on just how much progress it has made.
Images taken this month showed the gantry height on the main launch pad had increased to more than 50 meters, while a wider access road and rail spur capable of transporting larger rockets to the pad were either finished or nearing completion.
"These modifications could be completed by 2015," the 38 North website said.
The images also showed evidence of new engine tests, including the presence of first stage rocket motors and distressed vegetation along the edges of the flame path.
The KN08 was first unveiled at a military parade in April 2012, but many analysts dismissed the models on show as mock-ups.
In December the same year, Pyongyang demonstrated its rocket capabilities by sending a satellite in orbit on a multi-stage launch vehicle.
But it has yet to conduct a test that would show it had mastered the re-entry technology required for an effective ICBM.
Over the past month or so, North Korea has conducted a series of short and medium range missile tests, which were largely seen as a muscle-flexing exercise in response to South Korea-U.S. joint military drills.
North Korea fired four short-range projectiles towards the sea Wednesday in the latest of a series of missile, rocket and artillery tests, the South's defense ministry said.
The latest launches began at 07:30am (2230 GMT) at a site near Mount Myohyang, northeast of Pyongyang, with two fired in the morning and another two in the afternoon, all towards the Sea of Japan (East Sea), the ministry said.
"The type of the projectiles is not known," a ministry spokesman told AFP.
"The test of two projectiles launched in the morning appeared to be unsuccessful because they just flew for several seconds, while two other projectiles fired in the afternoon traveled for up to 210 kilometers (126 miles)," he said.
The ministry declined to confirm a Yonhap news agency report that the North might have tested new 300-millimeter multiple rocket launchers.
The exercise came as cross-border military tensions run high following a series of missile, rocket and artillery launches in recent weeks.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un guided a missile-firing drill last Saturday after the United Nations Security Council condemned Pyongyang for its recent ballistic missile tests in violation of U.N. resolutions.
The North's state media described Saturday's short-range missile test as a "rocket-firing drill" to simulate a strike on military bases in South Korea where 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed.
The North often fires missiles and rockets as a show of force or to express anger at perceived provocations, but the frequency of the recent tests is unusual.
U.N. resolutions bar North Korea from conducting any launches using ballistic missile technology.
But the North has defended the missile launches as a response to "madcap war maneuvers" by the U.S.
Pyongyang has been playing hawk and dove in recent weeks, mixing its tests with peace gestures that have been largely dismissed by Seoul.
The two Koreas are currently trying to sort out logistics for the North's participation in the Asian Games, which begin in September in the South Korean city of Incheon.
Source: Agence France Presse
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