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 test-fire of Hwasongpho-16-B [화성-16나], a new-type intermediate-range solid-fueled ballistic missile loaded with newly-developed hypersonic glide vehicle, on the spot on April 2.” The range of the missile was stated as 1,000 km, not 600 km.
The DPRK leader expressed full satisfaction with the result of the test launch and praised all those involved.
In response to the launch, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said that Pyongyang is trying to destabilize South Korean society ahead of the parliamentary elections, but that the unity of South Korean citizens will be further strengthened.
Senior nuclear officials of South Korea, the United States and Japan immediately condemned the launch as “an overt provocation that seriously threatens the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the region, and a violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.”
On April 11, Kim Jong-un visited the Kim Jong-il University of Military and Politics and said in an address that “now is the time to be more thoroughly prepared for a war than ever before” and that the war “should be won without fail.”
On April 19, the DPRK’s General Administration of Missile Engineering “conducted a power test of the ultra-large warhead of theHwasal-1G-3 (화살-1라-3형) strategic cruise missile and a test launch of the newPyolchchi-1-2 (별찌-1-2형) anti-aircraft missile.” The KNCA’s report specifically noted that the tests were conducted “as part of the regular activities of the General Department of Missile Engineering and its affiliated defense science institutes for the rapid development of technologies in various aspects such as tactical and technical performance and operation of new-type weapon systems, and they had nothing to do with the surrounding situation.”
On April 22, North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles (traveling distances of less than 300 kilometers) in the direction of the Sea of Japan. Released media materials show that the training exercise involved a total of four KN-25 MLRSs which fired a synchronized salvo of one missile each. Their range was 352 kilometers.
Expressing great satisfaction with the results of the exercise, Kim Jong-un noted that the high accuracy of the ultra-large rocket-propelled guns was comparable to that of a rifle.
The need for this exercise was justified by the actions of the US and South Korea and, above all, by the military maneuvers they have recently conducted. It is reported that the exercise was commanded by the head of the DPRK’s General Directorate of Rocket Engineering, Army General Jang Chang Ha.
On the same day, during a briefing Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the United States Department of State, said that such actions violate a number of UN Security Council resolutions. The South Korean Defense Ministry also warned that “if North Korea tries to use weapons, it will face an immediate, overwhelming and decisive response from the South Korea-US alliance, and the North Korean regime will face its end.”
On April 24, the KNCA published the text of a statement by Kim Yo-jong, deputy head of the department of the Central Committee of the Korean Workers Party, which stated that “the regional situation has been plunged deeper into a dangerous vortex due to the US-led hostile forces’ ceaseless military moves.” Listing examples of more than 80 US-ROK exercises, the “First Sister” noted that “in August last year, the summit meeting of the US, Japan and the puppet ROK, held at Camp David in a suburb of Washington… decided to stage tripartite military drills.”
Also on April 24, the head of the Foreign Information Division of the DPRK Foreign Ministry’s Information Department issued a statement criticizing the US response to the April 22 drills, emphasizing that “the nuclear counter-strike exercises conducted by the Armed Forces of the DPRK serve as an unambiguous warning signal to the United States and the Republic of Korea, which are unilaterally escalating military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.”
On April 25, Kim Jong-un personally observed the test-firing of a new 240mm MLRS which is envisioned as a potential instrument for a strike against South Korea’s capital region. The shells were produced in a new defense-industrial enterprise operating under the so-called Second Economic Committee. Based on their results, the flight characteristics, precision and accuracy were rated satisfactory.
The North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun quotes Kim Jong-un as saying that the 240-mm MLRS system created with new technologies (it was not specified what technology was used) will lead to strategic changes to strengthening the artillery capabilities of KPA units.
On May 3, South Korean media reported that on March 20 the South Korean military had shot down an unidentified balloon, or more precisely, “an unidentified flying object up to 2 meters in size, drifting without a propulsion device” over the Yellow Sea near the disputed maritime border. The military believes the object could have come from either North Korea or the PRC, as spy balloons from China have been spotted in the United States and Taiwan.
On May 11-12, the DPRK leader visited a number of important enterprises of the country’s defense industry under the control of the Second Economic Committee. Kim Jong-un took a ride on a new model of tractor-trailer carrying a 240-mm MLRS, toured a small arms production plant focusing primarily on the manufacture of new sniper rifles, and visited a factory producing precision ammunition.
On May 17, the KNCA published an article by a military observer, “Provocation to regional peace and security can never be tolerated,” condemning the previous day’s exercise involving two South Korean F-35A fighter jets and two US F-22 Raptors. “The ‘revisit’ of F-22 stealth fighters to the Korean peninsula only after seven months and their first ‘simulated air battle’ are another clear proof of the hostile nature of the US which has persistently encroached upon regional countries’ rights to security while seeking the showdown of force with the DPRK.”
Another statement published by the KNCA on the same day emphasized that the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise planned to be conducted by South Korea and US forces in August 2024 could have “disastrous consequences” as it would amount to a “nuclear attack drill against Pyongyang, involving the most advanced military equipment, including nuclear strategic forces.”
On the same day, South Korean media reported that North Korea is currently more than usually active in planting mines and reinforcing barbed wire fences at several locations inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas. “About 100 to 200 personnel have been mobilized by region, centering on the eastern and central front lines.” In addition, the North has introduced heavy equipment into the DMZ, which the South believes may be a violation of the armistice that ended fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War.
Finally, on the afternoon of May 17, the DPRK launched several ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area in an easterly direction. They flew a distance of 300 kilometers before falling into the Sea of Japan. This was Pyongyang’s fifth ballistic missile launch since the beginning of the year.
The test confirmed the accuracy and reliability of the missiles and the firing itself was described as “part of a routine activity to improve weapon systems technology.” The tests were observed by Kim Jong-un, who “expressed great satisfaction with the military and strategic value of this DPRK-developed technology and its implementation in practice.” It is understood that the phrase “autonomous navigation guidance system” refers to an improvement in the performance of the GPS guidance device to improve the accuracy and range of existing tactical missiles.
In addition, on May 17, Kim Jong-un visited a military-industrial facility that produces Hwasong-18 type ICBMs. The head of state expressed great satisfaction with the production results of the first half of the year and the prospects for the fulfillment of the year-end target.
On May 20, the KNCA criticized the subcritical nuclear test conducted by the United States on May 14 at the Nevada Test Site, stating that it “creates new tensions in the military confrontation between nuclear states and accelerates the global nuclear arms race.” In order to prepare for strategic instability, Pyongyang is “compelled to take the necessary measures to enhance its nuclear deterrence readiness within its sovereign right.”
To summarize, in response to South Korea’s comprehensive military maneuvers, North Korea has responded with missile launches, which are mainly for effect, and threatening statements (although in this respect South Korea is not lagging behind), the testing of new weapons and development of the military-industrial complex, which we will discuss in detail in our next article.
Konstantin Asmolov, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Leading Research Fellow at the Center for Korean Studies of the Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”
