[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] North Korea's Missile Launch Timeline Doesn't Add Up

Strategic Cruise Missiles Cannot Be Launched from Small Ships
No Evidence of Target Hit Despite Real-Time Monitoring

The Joint Chiefs of Staff stated regarding North Korea's launch of a strategic cruise missile announced on the 21st that "the content announced by North Korea is exaggerated and contains many parts that differ from the facts."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The JCS said in a text message sent to the press corps on the same day, "South Korea and the United States detected related signs in advance and were monitoring in real time."

Earlier, Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission, inspected the naval fleet and observed the strategic cruise missile launch training, according to the Korean Central News Agency. Although the date of Kim's naval fleet inspection was not disclosed, it appears to have been conducted as a measure to counter the joint South Korea-U.S. exercise 'Ulchi Freedom Shield' (UFS), which began at midnight on the same day.

A strategic cruise missile refers to a missile equipped with a nuclear warhead, but military authorities analyzed that the missile launched that day was not a strategic cruise missile but an anti-ship missile. Strategic cruise missiles cannot be launched from small vessels.

Also, the missile launch date observed by Kim was identified as a weekday rather than a weekend, and it appears the missile failed to hit its target. North Korea usually releases photos or videos of a successful hit when launching missiles, but this time they did not disclose any, and it is known that our military's detection equipment also indicated a failure to hit the target.

Inside and outside the military estimate that the missile launched by North Korea is the Geumseong-3 anti-ship missile mounted on a new combat ship. It is an anti-ship missile modeled after Russia's high-performance anti-ship missile Uran (Uran·3M24). The Geumseong-3 flies below the radar detection angle of the ship. It has sea-skimming flight capability. It also has the function to adjust its flight path to disrupt the enemy's air defense network.

The JCS said, "Under a firm combined defense posture, the military will carry out planned joint exercises and training intensively and thoroughly, and maintain a solid readiness posture based on the capability to overwhelmingly respond to any provocations from North Korea."

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