North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for the “expansion” of a key satellite station, state media said yesterday, as the US threatened fresh sanctions over two missile tests it said were “disguised” as a space launch.
North Korea said the tests on Feb. 27 and Saturday last week were focused on developing a reconnaissance satellite, but the Pentagon on Thursday said that rigorous analysis concluded they were of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system.
Analysts say that North Korea uses ostensibly peaceful satellite development as a fig leaf for full-range ICBM development as there is significant overlap in technology.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Fueling speculation of an imminent ICBM test, KCNA reported yesterday that Kim had visited the Sohae Satellite Launching Station and called for it to be “modernized” and expanded “to enable large carrier rockets to be launched there.”
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the two tests “involved a new intercontinental ballistic missile system” that Pyongyang had first showcased at a military parade in October 2020.
Dubbed a “monster missile,” the Hwasong-17 is likely designed to carry multiple warheads and has never been test-fired.
While neither of the two launches displayed ICBM range or capability, they were clearly intended “to evaluate this new system before conducting a test at full range in the future, potentially disguised as a space launch,” Kirby said.
South Korea and Japan confirmed the US assessment.
North Korea is to mark the 110th anniversary of the birth of founder Kim Il-sung on April 15, and analysts predict Pyongyang would conduct an ICBM or satellite launch as part of the celebrations.
North Korea has carried out three ICBM tests, the last in November 2017 of a Hwasong-15 — deemed powerful enough to reach the continental US.
Before its ICBM tests in 2017, North Korea launched a series of powerful rockets that it insisted were part of a civilian space program.
Those launches were made from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station on the northwest coast — the site of Kim’s recent visit.
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