A missile launch by North Korea on Wednesday appears to have failed, South Korea’s military said. There are fears that the North may soon launch its biggest long-range missile, its most significant provocation in years. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, it wasn’t immediately clear what North Korea launched or how it failed. This launch, the 10th of its kind this year, is evidence that North Korea is determined to modernize its arsenal and press its rivals to make concessions amid dormant denuclearization talks.
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that did not have any further details that U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies were analyzing the launch from Pyongyang around 9:30 a.m. that apparently failed. Despite past failures, North Korea is still moving towards acquiring a nuclear arsenal that would threaten the American homeland. One of eight ‘Musudan’ intermediate-range missile tests in 2016 was seen as successful by outside analysts, which led to debates about whether North Korea had lost its path toward ICBMs.
It has conducted three successful test launches of ICBMs in 2017 that demonstrated a possible range to strike deep into the U.S. mainland. If North Korea launches another ICBM, it would be its most high-profile missile test since those tests more than four years ago.
According to the U.S. and South Korean militaries, North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile system in two recent launches, referring to the Hwasong-17 missile that North Korea unveiled in October 2020 during a military parade. North Korea’s missiles flew medium-range distances in the launches on February 27 and March 5, and experts have said the country could eventually test a full-range ICBM. During one of the two tests, the North said it tested cameras and other systems for a spy satellite. However, it did not confirm what rocket or missile is launched.
North Korea is attempting to launch its first spy satellite into orbit while boosting its ICBM capability. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un intends to acquire an improved ICBM as well as a spy satellite. This is one of a variety of sophisticated weapons systems he claims he needs to cope with ‘American hostility’. The Hwasong-17 is North Korea’s biggest missile, which could fly up to 15 kilometers (9,320 miles), far enough to strike anywhere in the United States. Although the 25-meter (82-foot) missile was displayed at Pyongyang’s defense exhibition last year, it has not yet been tested.
North Korea tested three ICBMs in 2017: the Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15. According to some analysts, developing a larger missile could signal that the nation is trying to defeat missile defense systems by arming its weapons with multiple warheads. Among the missiles tested this year were mostly short-range, nuclear-capable weapons that are within striking distance of South Korea and Japan, both key U.S. allies.
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