[Comprehensive Report 2] North Korea Likely Conducted Retest Launch of Hwasong-15

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] North Korea launched one ballistic missile into the East Sea on the 4th.

On the same day, the Joint Chiefs of Staff sent a text message to the press corps stating, "At around 12:03 PM, one ballistic missile launched from the Pyongyang Sunan area toward the East Sea was detected," adding, "The ballistic missile flew approximately 470 km, reached an altitude of about 780 km, and traveled at Mach 11."

This launch marks 18 days since North Korea fired two ‘new tactical guided weapons’ believed to be intended for use against South Korea from the Hamhung area at around 6 PM on the 16th of last month, and it is the 14th show of force revealed this year. The level of this provocation is drawing attention as it is the first ‘provocation’ since Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission, publicly mentioned the possibility of a ‘preemptive nuclear strike’ on the 25th of last month.

Military experts have suggested that North Korea may have launched the failed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasong-15 again with a reduced range as a retest. Pyongyang Sunan was the site where North Korea launched an ICBM at maximum performance on March 24.

At that time, North Korea announced domestically and internationally through a public report the next day that it had successfully launched the new ICBM ‘Hwasong-17.’ However, military authorities, based on analysis of multiple intelligence assets, judged that North Korea actually fired the existing ICBM ‘Hwasong-15’ and deceptively promoted it as the Hwasong-17.

Within the military, there is also analysis that this may be a kind of ‘signal flare’ indicating an intention to significantly raise the level of strategic provocations ahead of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s inauguration in six days and the upcoming South Korea-US summit. On the same day, the confirmation hearing for Defense Minister nominee Lee Jong-seop was held at the National Assembly’s Defense Committee, and the committee members are scheduled to receive a missile-related briefing from Defense Ministry officials in the afternoon.

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