North Korea, "Ballistic Missile Launch, Railway Mobile Missile Regiment Training"... Launch from Train (Comprehensive)

Photo by Chosun Central News Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] North Korea announced that the ballistic missile launch conducted on the 15th was a training exercise by the Railway Mobile Missile Regiment. The missile was launched from a train, not from the previously revealed Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL). Kim Jong-un, the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, did not observe the training.

On the 16th, the Korean Central News Agency reported, "The Railway Mobile Missile Regiment mobilized to the central mountainous area at dawn on September 15 and participated in training with the mission to strike target areas at an 800 km range."

The agency stated, "Following the operational norms and action sequences of the railway mobile missile system, the regiment completed rapid mobilization and deployment, and accurately struck targets set in the 800 km maritime area of the East Sea according to the assigned firepower mission."

Party Secretary Pak Jong-chon supervised the missile regiment's firing training, while General Secretary Kim did not attend. Secretary Pak evaluated, "The inspection firing training of the Railway Mobile Missile Regiment was successfully conducted in line with our Party's military strategic and tactical plans," adding, "The practical introduction of the railway mobile missile system in accordance with the military modernization line and policy presented at the Party's 8th Congress holds great significance in strengthening the country's war deterrence capability."

The 'railway mobile missile system' mentioned by Secretary Pak refers to a system that launches ballistic missiles from trains, not the previously disclosed TEL. Photos released through the news agency showed missiles being launched from trains. Rodong Sinmun, the propaganda outlet of the Workers' Party of Korea, stated that this training "was conducted to confirm the practicality of the railway mobile missile system introduced for the first time in actual combat, to objectively evaluate the combat readiness and firepower mission execution capability of the newly organized regiment, and to master actual combat action procedures."

This system appears to have been established as part of the new national defense strategy formulated at the Party's 8th Congress held in January. The newspaper reported that Secretary Pak "specifically discussed the issue of rapidly accumulating practical operational experience of the railway mobile missile regiment and expanding and reorganizing it into a railway mobile missile brigade."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.