북 ICBM 핵 소형화 위협 현실:군사 전문가
North Korea's latest missile launch was personally observed by the regime's leader Kim Jong-un who appears to show great interest in related weapons upgrade.
Seoul's military experts see the tests as stepping stones to completing Pyongyang's ICBM and nuclear capabilities.
Kim Hyun-bin shares with us their analysis.
Since South Korean President Moon Jae-in took office on May 10th, North Korea has launched five missiles... with four of them being tested for the first time.
A local military expert says the North is trying to upgrade its weapons systems as its ICBM and nuclear capabilities near completion.
The expert pointed out that the missile fired on May 14th, the Hwasong-12, is most significant as it contains key components of the ICBM.
The Hwasong-12 hit an altitude of two-thousand kilometers and successfully re-entered the atmosphere, which is the hardest ICBM technology to develop.
"Looking at North Korean data and the U.S. response to the launch, it appears to me that Pyongyang has indeed acquired re-entry technology. The U.S. first tested its re-entry technology in 1959 and that warhead is similar to what the regime has now. I believe North Korea has the technology and only the stage left is to test it."
However the expert pointed out that the greater threat is that North Korea has also developed miniaturized nuclear warheads that can be mounted not only on ICBMs but on most of its ballistic missiles.
"North Korea claimed that it tested a miniaturized nuclear warhead in 2016. And after analyzing data we found that the warhead had detonation system... plus the warhead is only 70 cm wide so it can be mounted on most ballistic missiles."
"North Korea's nuclear and missile threats have become imminent. The expert pointed out the importance of the U.S. missile defense system THAAD on the peninsula and speeding up development of the Korea Air and Missile Defense and Kill Chain to better counter those threats."
Kim Hyun-bin, Arirang News.
