Sep 15, 2021
North Korea Adds Train-Launched Missiles to Nuclear Arsenal
Bloomberg News
,(Bloomberg) -- North Korea said its latest test of ballistic missiles was fired off of a train, indicating the state has added a new type of delivery system that increases its quick-strike ability against U.S. allies in the region.
“The test-firing drill took place for the purpose of confirming the practicality of the railway-borne missile system deployed for action for the first time,” the state’s official Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday. It quoted a top ruling party official, Pak Jong Chon, as saying the launch system “increases the war deterrence of the country.”
North Korea fired off two ballistic missiles Wednesday, its second major test in less than a week of weapons designed to bolster its nuclear capability, prompting the United Nations Security Council to head into an emergency session hours later.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said two ballistic missiles were fired from central North Korea into waters off the eastern coast of the peninsula Wednesday afternoon. They were launched about five minutes apart and flew for about 800 kilometers (500 miles), it said. That range indicates it was a short-range ballistic missile that could hit all of South Korea and some parts of Japan.
The Wednesday launch came on the same on day South Korean President Moon Jae-in observed his military’s test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, joining a small list of countries to demonstrate the technology.
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