North Korea test
The photos, provided by the Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 13, show a missile being fired and traveling in the sky. Yonhap |
North Korea has successfully test-fired a new type of long-range cruise missile over the weekend, state media reported Monday, a low-level provocation amid stalled talks with the United States.
The test-firings, which took place Saturday and Sunday without leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, came right after the North held a scaled-down military parade, and appeared to be intent on demonstrating its military power in a low-level provocation without violating U.N. sanctions.
The North is banned from using ballistic technology under multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions. Cruise missiles, however, are not subject to the sanctions as they are considered less of a threat than ballistic missiles.
The missiles "traveled for 7,580 seconds along an oval and pattern-8 flight orbits in the air above the territorial land and waters" in North Korea and "hit targets 1,500 km away," the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
"The development of the long-range cruise missile, a strategic weapon of great significance in meeting the key target of the five-year plan for the development of the defense science and the weapon system ... has been pushed forward according to the scientific and reliable weapon system development process for the past two years," the KCNA said.
"Detailed tests of missile parts, scores of engine ground thrust tests, various flight tests, control and guidance tests, warhead power tests, etc. were conducted with success," it added.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the latest test poses threats to the region and beyond.
"We are aware of reports of DPRK cruise missile launches. We will continue to monitor the situation and are consulting closely with our allies and partners," the command said in a release. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"This activity highlights DPRK's continuing focus on developing its military program and the threats that poses to its neighbors and the international community. The U.S. commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remains ironclad," it added.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that an in-depth analysis is under way in close cooperation with U.S. intelligence authorities but refused to confirm details, including where the test was conducted and if they detected the launches in advance.
Top nuke envoys of Seoul, Tokyo hold talks amid renewed tensions over North Korea's missile launches 2021-09-13 17:29 | North Korea North Korea's missile launches threat to international community 2021-09-13 11:48 | North Korea
The South Korean military has disclosed information on North Korea's test-firings of ballistic missiles almost on a real-time basis, but not for cruise missile tests.
Experts say the North's newly unveiled weapon resembles the U.S.' long-range Tomahawk and South Korea's Hyunmoo-3C cruise missiles.
Ballistic missiles have a much longer range and move faster than cruise missiles of the same size. But cruise missiles are still threatening as they fly in a relatively straight line and at low altitudes, making them harder to detect. Cruise missiles can also carry nuclear warheads, according to the experts.
The latest test-firings came after the North held a scaled-down military parade at midnight Thursday to mark the 73rd state founding anniversary.
The North paraded mostly paramilitary troops, fire engines and artillery-carrying tractors rather than intercontinental ballistic missiles and other strategic weapons. The event appeared to be aimed at consolidating internal solidarity amid challenges from the coronavirus pandemic and global sanctions on its economy.
The test-firings also came after the North warned of "a serious security crisis" in protest against the major combined exercise between South Korea and the U.S. last month. Many have expected the North to carry out major weapons tests or to undertake provocations.
Pak Jong-chon, member of the Presidium of the politburo of the ruling Workers' Party, watched the latest test-firings, along with other senior officials, the KCNA said. Leader Kim did not attend the tests.
"He stressed the need for the field of the national defense science to go all out to increase the defense capabilities, the war deterrence of the country and keep making achievements in meeting the grand and long-term targets of securing war deterrence," Pak said, according to the KCNA.
Experts said that North Korea appears to have conducted the test-firings in a way that demonstrates its military power, but by using cruise missiles, not ballistic missiles, it avoided provoking the U.S. too much.
They still worried that the North could continue conducting such tests going forward and seek to make those missiles smaller and possibly adaptable to submarines down the line.
"Given that the missile development was launched two years ago as part of the five-year plan, the project appears to have started after mid-2019," said Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, a state-run think tank.
"The North could continue such tests so as to make them smaller as part of the five-year plan, and there is also a possibility that the missiles could be developed to be able to be launched from submarines," he added.
The latest firing marks the third known major missile test by the communist country so far this year.
On March 21, the North fired two cruise missiles off the west coast, according to the JCS. Four days later, it fired off two ballistic missiles into the East Sea, believed to be an upgraded version of its KN-23 Iskander-type missile.
Some local media also reported that the North conducted a cruise missile test in January just hours after U.S. President Joe Biden took office. (Yonhap)
(责任编辑:关于我们)
相关内容
- CrowdStrike outage is still causing hundreds of flight cancellations daily
- The best 2020 political moments from late night
- 父母亲手准备 外面买不到
- People really love this video of a dude unclogging a drain
- Apple to start manufacturing iPhone Pro in India, report claims
- Flying spaghetti monster and unworldly life filmed in deep sea footage
- Focus on 'Big Three' has cost tennis: Kyrgios
- The allegations against Brett Kavanaugh have finally given toxic bro culture a news peg.
- Juul sets up a web portal for narcing on vaping teens
- Europe now has a huge AI gap, for better or for worse
- 'Legend of Korra' is a sophisticated series for ambivalent times
- What is MeWe? Everything you need to know about the social network competing with Parler.
- Twitter appears to be trolling Trump's account after the Biden call
推荐文章
-
21 Caves That Offer Otherworldly Experiences
Millions of caves can be found worldwide, many of which are home to flora and fauna that are uniquel ...[详细] -
王研力的父母为女儿采摘蔬菜一切收拾完毕,除去蔬菜和米粉,还有母亲亲手制作的腊肉、香肠——王研力的汽车后备厢被父母的爱塞得满满当当。王研力表示,母亲制作的米粉和父亲栽种的蔬菜,是外面买不到的,“从小吃到 ...[详细]
-
S. Korea, Paraguay vow to boost trade cooperation
Lee Kyung-sik, a South Korean free trade agreement negotiator, has the seventh round of negotiations ...[详细] -
S. Korea's Navy retrieves debris of NK missile that flew over NLL last week
This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, shows the North Korean mil ...[详细] -
Listeners encouraged to go wild with Le Sserafim's 4th EP
K-pop girl group Le Sserafim performs "Crazy," the title track of its fourth EP of the same name, du ...[详细] -
US, allies clash with Russia, China over North Korea tests
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks during a meeting of th ...[详细] -
Popular in News & Politics What Exactly Does Nikki Haley Expect Her ...[详细]
-
各奖1亿元!为“广东省十大乡村振兴示范带”打call→_南方+_南方plus据广东省农业农村厅官网消息,经过县级申报、市级推荐、实地核查、资料评审、演讲答辩、确定名单等6个环节,评选出2022年度“广 ...[详细]
-
优化广东优质农产品产销资源对接!“农友圈”又有新动作_南方+_南方plus2023年10月,广东省农业农村厅依托“粤农技”微信小程序建成并运营了农业技术需求精准对接服务公益性平台——“农友圈”。截至7 ...[详细]
-
Elon Musk sued by SEC over tweets about taking Tesla private
Popular in News & Politics What Exactly Does Nikki Haley Expect Her ...[详细]
热点阅读
随机内容
NCT member Taeil leaves band over sexual offense allegations
Twitter appears to be trolling Trump's account after the Biden call
- Yoon touts pension reform drive amid stagnant popularity rating
- The dreaded 'someone is typing' dots have entered the impeachment drama
- 有机!富硒!这些关键词成丝苗米市场风向标
- Brett Kavanaugh FBI report: Republican and Democratic senators react.
- What to expect from Apple's September event: iPhone 16, Apple Watch 10, and more
- 5 weird old phones that should totally get the Razr treatment
- 参与人数越来越多 网球逐步走向大众