Experts variously evaluated the DPRK's missile news
A new missile launch was made in the DPRK – the fourth in the last few days. The news came amid signals from Pyongyang to restore dormant communication with South Korea as part of the reconciliation step.
Photo: AP
“On September 30, the DPRK's national defense academy launched a test launch of a new air defense missile” according to the official North Korean news agency TsTAK. ”
A member of the WPK Politburo Presidium, Secretary of the Central Party Party, Park Chong Chong, watched the launch of the test together with defense research leaders. & # 39; & # 39;
According to the CTCA, the National Defense Academy has confirmed “ amazing combat performance of the new air defense missile, which includes important innovative technologies, including dual rudder control technology and dual pulse flight engine, resulting in better response and control accuracy, and an area where destruction airborne targets of the missile control system significantly increased. & # 39; & # 39;
Earlier, North Korean media reported that on the morning of September 28, a new Hwaseong hypersonic missile was fired in the village of Doyan in Ryeongrim district, Chagan province. 8 & # 39; & # 39 ;: “ In the first test launch, defense scientists confirmed the maneuverability and stability of the missile during active flight, its technical properties, including controlled mobility and glide of a separate hypersonic gliding warhead. They also confirmed the safety of the newly introduced system of ampoules with drive and motor. & # 39; & # 39; this is one of the five main tasks of the strategic arms industry in the five-year plan for the development of defense science and the development of the weapon system, which was presented at VIII. Congress of the Korean Workers' Party.
The development of this weapons system, which was considered the most important work with the special attention of the WPK Central Committee, is called of great strategic importance in Pyongyang with the extraordinary increase of independent ultra-modern scientific and technical power in the DPRK's defense field.
In early September, North Korea also tested a newly developed guided missile and a ballistic missile fired from a train. Experts believe that these two missile tests demonstrated the DPRK's ability to attack targets in South Korea and Japan, which are key allies of the United States and on whose territory the US troops are located.
North Korea resumed its first missile tests in six months in September, but Pyongyang still offered to resume talks with Seoul, which some experts say is a clear attempt to ease sanctions and other concessions. Earlier this week, DPRK leader Kim Jong-un expressed his readiness to renew a peace-building hotline with South Korea in the coming days on the Korean Peninsula, the Associated Press said.
South Korea, Japan and the United States routinely publicly acknowledge the launch of North Korean missiles shortly after they occurred, but did not do so during Thursday's tests, suggesting that this may not have been a major weapons test, the AP notes. Seoul chiefs of staff said on Friday that South Korean and U.S. intelligence services were monitoring North Korea's related activities, but did not go into detail.
Kim Dong Yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Thursday's launch appeared to be a primitive test phase for the development of a missile designed to shoot down oncoming missiles and aircraft, the AP agency said. The expert suggested that the missile resembled the Russian-made S-400 air defense system, which, according to him, has a maximum range of 400 kilometers and is said to be used to intercept secret aircraft hidden from radars.
Although Kim Jong-un said he intended to reopen the inter-Korean hotline, he ignored US proposals for dialogue as “tricky.” a cover for their hostility to the north. The DPRK leader also reiterated Pyongyang's demands for Seoul to abandon “duplication” with North missile tests if South Korea wishes to resume negotiations and major steps in cooperation.
South Korea has said it will prepare for the resumption of the hotlines, which it said are necessary to discuss and resolve many unresolved issues. Cross-border communication lines have been largely inactive for more than a year. According to Friday morning, North Korea is not responding to South Korea's attempts to communicate through channels, according to the Seoul Ministry of Unification.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told reporters on Thursday that Washington, in principle, “ strongly supports & # 39; & # 39; inter-Korean dialogue. However, he said, the United States is concerned about North Korea's recent rocket launches, which he said are repeated violations of UN Security Council resolutions and creating “great prospects for instability and uncertainty.” Some experts say North Korea wants South Korea to persuade the United States to ease repressive international economic sanctions on Pyongyang. Others say North Korea is seeking international recognition as a nuclear power. Nuclear diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington has largely stalled since the beginning of 2019. At the same time, the Associated Press notes, North Korea has not tested a long-range missile capable of reaching the US mainland for about four years, indicating that it wants to maintain its chances of a diplomatic settlement.