Several missile experts have since reached similar conclusions, but they caution the importance of last week’s successful ICBM launch – North Korea’s first in more than four years – should not be discounted, pointing out that Testing still demonstrates a weapon with a theoretical ability to hit all. of the continental United States.
The ICBM fired by North Korea last Thursday flew to an altitude of 6,000 kilometers (3,728 mi) and a range of 1080 kilometers (671 mi) and sank over the west coast of Japan with a flight time of 71 minutes . Thursday. It was the entire Japanese Ministry of Defense.
Japan’s Deputy Defense Minister Makoto Oniki told reporters shortly thereafter that the missile’s height showed it was “a new type of ICBM”.
Japanese officials stood by that assessment this week, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno saying Monday that Tokyo viewed the missile as a new type based on flight altitude and other information.
But South Korean officials and missile experts said a closer analysis of images in North Korean state media of last week’s launch provided two possible clues to Pyongyang’s alleged deceit.
The South Korean official said assessments from Seoul and Washington showed the ICBMs launched last week had only two engine nozzles, like the Hwasong-15, while the Hwasong-17 had four.
And in a video released by state-run Korean Central Television (KCTV) last Friday, with Kim Jong Un guiding the launch, the North Korean leader’s shadow is seen to the west, implying it was shot in the morning. But the launch took place in the afternoon, the official said.
The launch area was cloudy last Thursday as well, but the KCTV video showed clear weather, the official said.
Analysts say US still needs to be careful
Many missile experts have also started raising doubts on North Korea’s claim of launching Hwasong-17.
“North Korea released a video after the March 24 test. However, we did measure the shadow in it, and from the height and angle of the Sun it is clear that the video is from the morning test on March 16,” Lewis said.
“The video is of the (previous) test which failed. It strongly suggests that the second test was something different they don’t want us to see.”
Ankit Panda, a nuclear policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Pyongyang has changed the Hwasong-15 – first tested nearly five years ago – to make it look like a more powerful missile.
Panda said Pyongyang’s apparently increased claim was for a domestic audience, not an international audience.
South Korean lawmaker Ha Tae-keung told reporters on Tuesday that debris fell on the North Korean capital Pyongyang after a failed test on March 16, according to a military briefing.
Ha’s office confirmed the lawmaker’s remarks to CNN on Thursday, adding to North Korea’s announcement of the March 24 launch as Hwasong-17 to spread negative opinion in Pyongyang, where citizens reported the March 16 failure. Saw it. North Korea has not accepted reports of a failed test on 16 March.
No matter where the missile was fired last Thursday, Lewis said the test showed a powerful offensive capability that US defense officials should be wary of.
“The missile, fired on March 24, will have a range of approximately 12,000 kilometers (7,500 mi), which is certainly within the capability of the Hwaseong-15, which can deliver a nuclear warhead anywhere in the United States,” Lewis said.
And Japanese official Matsuno said on Monday that North Korea’s missile program continues to pose a serious threat to the security of Japan, the region and the world.
CNN’s Eunjung Seo and Junko Ogura contributed to this report.