Suspicious points of the newly launched North Korean missile

North Korea has become a hot topic after its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch early on November 29, as the power of the tested weapon surprised the world.

According to the information released, North Korea's new ICBM reached an altitude of 4,500km and flew in the air for nearly an hour. With this ability, North Korea's new missile is said to have a range to reach all areas of the US.

Latest missile launch images.

But unlike previous times, this time the North Korean missile crashed off the coast of Japan but no Japanese cameras recorded the landing of the warhead.

In fact, US, South Korean, and Japanese defense officials tracking the launch raised a reasonable suspicion: the North Koreans had tested a missile, but they may have tampered with a key component, according to Business Insider.

The purpose of the launch, according to experts, was to demonstrate that North Korean missiles could reach the United States. Minutes after the new development, American scientists calculated that the weapon could strike any target in the United States, based on the flight time, distance and altitude reached.

But what the outside world doesn’t know for sure is what North Korea’s new missile will carry. Missiles alone can’t do the damage. That’s where nuclear warheads come in. Moving a nuclear warhead – which can weigh up to 100 pounds – is a daunting task for engineers.

And in this case, North Korea may have launched an old ICBM without a warhead to give it a longer range.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un often personally supervises missile launches. Photo: Reuters

“This missile can reach the entire United States,” David Wright, a physicist and rocket expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told Business Insider. “But that doesn’t mean much without the warhead.”

North Korean media has described the new missile as the Hwasong-15, a perfect ICBM that outsiders have never seen before. Pyongyang's previous ICBMs were of the Hwasong-14 class.

There seems reasonable reason to suspect that, while demonstrating a new missile that can hit anywhere in the United States, North Korea has failed to demonstrate the ability to strike the world's number one power with a nuclear warhead.

According to Vietnamnet.vn