North Korea's newly tested missile can reach North America

The two missiles recently test-fired by North Korea are likely KN-08s, which have a maximum range of 12,000 km and can reach US cities.

Satellite image of the site of two recent missile tests. Photo: Planet Labs.

North Korea may have tested the KN-08 (Hwasong-13) intercontinental ballistic missile in two recent launches, the Washington Post reported on October 26. Both tests took place at the Kusong Air Base (in the west of North Korea), instead of the Musudan missile test site in the east of the country.

Jeffrey Lewis, project director at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS), said the tests showed that North Korea was working to perfect its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) technology. Infrared satellite imagery showed signs of large-scale missile tests, far exceeding the size of the Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile.

The scorch marks on the ground mark the location of the rocket exhaust. The traces from the first test launch on October 15 were large, indicating that the rocket had suffered a serious accident, or even exploded on the launch pad. The scorch marks from the second test on October 19 were smaller, suggesting that the rocket had left the launch pad and gained altitude before being destroyed.

The US Strategic Command (StratCom) determined that these were all Musudan missile tests. However, Mr. Lewis said StratCom had previously misidentified North Korea's September tests, claiming they were Rodong and Musudan missiles. In fact, all three tests used upgraded versions of the Scud missile.

Pyongyang aims to produce ICBMs capable of reaching the US mainland. The KN-08 ballistic missile is believed to have a range of 1,500 - 6,000 km or 3,000-12,000 km depending on the type of propulsion engine, which can reach the North American continent. The missile can carry a nuclear warhead weighing 500-700 kg.

Despite many obstacles, Pyongyang has achieved many results in the process of researching ballistic missiles. Military experts believe that North Korea could deploy its first ICBM launcher within the next 5 years.

According to VNE