The Ministry of National Defense officially confirmed today (29th) that the ICBM launched by North Korea five days ago is being evaluated as the existing Hwasong-15, not the new Hwasong-17.
The Ministry of National Defense made this statement with the explanation of 'the basis for evaluating the North Korean captain Hwasong-17 as the Hwasong-15' in the current issue report submitted to the plenary session of the National Assembly Defense Committee this afternoon.
North Korea fired an ICBM at an elevated angle at Pyongyang Sunan Airfield on the 24th and announced the next day that it was a new Hwasong-17, but this is not true. It is the evaluation of the ROK and U.S. military authorities that it was deceived.
Regarding the reason, the Ministry of National Defense said, "In the situation where Pyongyang residents witnessed the failure of the Hwasong-17 launch on the 16th, it was necessary to deliver a 'success message' in the shortest time to block rumors and stabilize the system. It was reported that the high-level Hwasong-15 was launched instead.”
North Korea fired the Hwasong-17 from Sunan Airfield on the 16th, but it exploded in the air at an early stage of less than 20 km.
The Ministry of National Defense also analyzed that "externally, even by deceiving flight specifications, the purpose was to insist on the advancement of ICBM capabilities to South Korea, the United States, and the international community, and to secure the status of a military power and enhance negotiating power."
However, he added, "It is presumed that internal considerations were greater for this launch."
The Ministry of National Defense evaluated this missile as a 'Hwasong-15' based on five main factors: flight characteristics, shadows in the video, weather, technical factors, and agreement between South Korea and the US evaluation.
First of all, he explained that ballistic missiles have unique flight characteristics for each type of ammunition, and that "as a result of a detailed analysis of the detected flight characteristics, it was more similar to the Hwasong-15 than to the Hwasong-17."
In the video that North Korea publicly reported, the shadow of Chairman Kim Jong-un appeared to the west and appeared to have been taken between 8 and 10 a.m., but he pointed out that the actual launch time was in the afternoon.
In addition, the Sunan weather on the day of the launch was mostly covered with clouds, but the video also suggested that the weather was clear.
The Ministry of National Defense said, "At various ROK-U.S. cooperation meetings, the US also agreed to the South Korean side's analysis techniques and evaluation contents." "The US side is also conducting detailed analysis.
In addition, the Hwasong-17 type is a bundle of four liquid fuel engines, and requires more complex technology than the two-engine Hwasong-14·15 type. time,” he pointed out.