North Korea "Test-fired Hwasong-12 Medium-Long Range Ballistic Missile... Confirmed Accuracy"

North Korea fired another projectile into the East Sea on the 30th. This marks the seventh show of force since the beginning of the new year, coming just three days after launching two ground-to-ground tactical guided missiles on the 27th. The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced in a text message sent to the press corps at 7:57 a.m. that North Korea had launched an unidentified projectile into the East Sea. The photo shows citizens watching the related news at Seoul Station on the same day. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] North Korea announced that the medium-range ballistic missile it launched the previous day is the "ground-to-ground medium-range ballistic missile Hwasong-12."

Korean Central News Agency reported on the 31st, "According to the plans of the National Defense Science Institute and the 2nd Economic Commission, among other relevant organizations, a test firing of the ground-to-ground medium-range ballistic missile 'Hwasong-12' was conducted on the 30th."

The test firing is a quality verification test launch randomly selected from missiles being produced and deployed, confirming that the Hwasong-12 is currently in production and deployment.

The agency stated, "The test firing was conducted with the purpose of selective inspection of the ground-to-ground medium-range ballistic missile 'Hwasong-12' currently being produced and to verify the overall accuracy of this weapon system," and "The National Defense Science Institute confirmed the accuracy, safety, and operational effectiveness of the produced 'Hwasong-12' weapon system," revealing the results.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that North Korea launched one medium-range ballistic missile eastward over the East Sea from the Mupeong-ri area in Jagang Province the previous morning. The missile, launched at a high angle, was detected to have a flight distance of approximately 800 km and a peak altitude of about 2,000 km. When launched at a normal angle of 30 to 45 degrees, the maximum range is estimated to be 4,500 to 5,000 km.

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