South Korea has cast doubt on North Korea’s latest claim of a successful missile test.
Our defense correspondent Choi Min-jung explains.
North Korea on Tuesday morning claimed that it successfully tested a new type of tactical ballistic missile, carrying a 4.5-ton “super-large” warhead, the day before.
This is the first time that the North has said it tested such a missile.
The North’s state-run media said that the test of the new missile, named “Hwasongpo-11 Da-4.5” was conducted with a mock warhead, aimed at verifying flight stability and accuracy, to see if it can fly a maximum range of 500 kilometers and minimum range of 90 kilometers.
South Korea’s military, however, dismissed the North’s claim, calling it a deception.
According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the regime launched two ballistic missiles, one which flew some 600 kilometers into the sea, and the other which traveled only 120 kilometers.
The military once again suggested that the second launch was abnormal, and appeared to have fallen in a field in an uninhabited area near the North’s capital.
“It is extremely rare to conduct a test launch inland and there is a high possibility that its claim of success is a lie.”
Last week, North Korea claimed a successful test of a new multi-warhead missile, contrasting with South Korea’s assessment of a failure after a mid-air explosion.
The regime’s continued claims that appear to be false, reveal that the North is trying to cover up its series of military failures,.. beginning with the recently failed launch of its spy satellite.
An expert says the contradicting claims by the two Koreas have always been present.
“When we take a look at past cases with regard to the success of these missile launches, North Korea treats even the smallest success as a great one, while our military assesses North Korea’s small failures as major failures. This is being repeated to this day.”
Meanwhile, more missile launches are expected as Pyongyang said it will carry out another test launch of the same type of missile this month,..
to test the accuracy and the explosion power of the super-large warhead.
Choi Min-jung, Arirang News.
Source : Arirang TV, https://www.arirang.com/news/view?id=272773
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