Pyongyang has successfully conducted a ground-based jet test of a solid-fueled engine for a new type of medium-range hypersonic missile. Tensions on the Korean peninsula will likely continue to rise, and missile launches, drills, and visits by strategic bombers, aircraft carriers, and nuclear subs to Korea will continue.

On March 15, Kim Jong-un watched a drill by North Korean special forces practicing an airborne assault on the South Korean heartland. Judging by photographs published by the media, North Korean military practiced parachuting troops into a dummy “South Korean” military base from Il-76 aircraft. With Kim were his daughter, Defense Minister Kang Sung-nam and Chief of General Staff Ri Yong-gil.

On March 18, Kim Jong-un participated in a firing exercise involving heavy 600mm Multiple Launch Rocket Systems. 6 rocket launchers simultaneously fired missiles which hit a small uninhabited island in the Sea of Japan. In addition, the launch included a simulation of a missile detonating in the air at a specified altitude above the target. This technique would make sense when using tactical nuclear weapons, which can theoretically be carried by these missile systems.

According to official press reports, Kim Jong-un explicitly said during the drills that systems of this type “could destroy an enemy capital.”

On March 20, Pyongyang said it had successfully conducted a ground-based jet test of a solid-fueled engine for a new type of medium-range hypersonic missile, which is believed to be harder to detect and shoot down.

On March 24, Kim Jong-un inspected the command post of the 105th Guards Seoul Ryu Kyong-Su Armored Division and the 1st Armored Infantry Regiment, which is attached to the division. It is the first tank unit of the Korean People’s Army, and was the first to enter Seoul at the beginning of the Korean War, hence its name.

The DPRK’s leader, accompanied by the country’s top military officers, toured the historical-revolutionary museum, viewed a performance by the division Publicity and Information Brigade, after which he toured the unit’s barracks, and then supervised a tank obstacle course and speed exercise.

On April 2, the DPRK launched its 13th ballistic missile this year towards the Sea of Japan. It is assumed to have been an intermediate range missile. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the ROK Armed Forces, the launch was made from the Pyongyang area. The missile reached a height of 100 kilometers, flew about 600 kilometers and fell into the sea outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone. The flight lasted about 10 minutes.

According to the South Korean military, although the North Korean missile flew for less than 10 minutes, its speed was similar to that of a hypersonic missile. From this it was concluded that the missile was fitted with a hypersonic warhead, known as a glide vehicle. The KNCA confirmed this speculation, reporting that “Kim Jong-un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), guided the first........

© New Eastern Outlook