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Park Chan-kyong

North Korea’s recent missile launch may be a test of upgraded exports to Russia, observers say, as the war in Ukraine gives Pyongyang opportunities to improve its weapons.
At about 6am on Wednesday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) detected a missile launched from the North’s southeastern port city of Wonsan. It flew roughly 700km (435 miles) eastward before falling into the Sea of Japan, or East Sea.
The JCS conspicuously did not specify the missile’s launch angle or whether it should be classified as short- or long-range. Instead, it said South Korean, US and Japanese authorities had been tracking the launch from its early stages.
A South Korean military official said further analysis was needed to determine its type.
The JCS said the military was “closely monitoring various developments in North Korea under a robust South Korea-US combined defence posture”. It stressed that Seoul was maintaining the capabilities and readiness to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation.

The latest launch came six days after Pyongyang fired what the South Korean military identified as a short-range ballistic missile towards the Sea of Japan.
North Korea usually reports its missile launches through state media a day or so after they occur. But it has yet to publish a report on last week’s launch, raising the possibility that it was unsuccessful or involved a top-secret new missile.
Product testing
North Korea operates KN-23, also known as Hwasong-11Ga, short-range ballistic missiles with a maximum range of about 700-800km.
At a military exhibition last October, it unveiled the Hwasong-11MA, a short-range hypersonic missile modelled after Russia’s Iskander-M system. The missile, which was test-fired later that month, is designed to perform a terminal “pull-up” manoeuvre during its descent, altering its trajectory shortly before impact to confuse missile-defence radars and evade interception.
“Given the growing need from Russia for the Ukraine war, it could be a test to improve existing missiles or develop a new type of missile,” said Cho Han-bum, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU).
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow was receiving additional military aid from North Korea in the war, now entering its fifth year.
Zelensky said Russian forces had used North Korean ballistic missiles in an overnight attack on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia that killed seven steel-plant workers.
A North Korean ballistic missile unit is also reportedly taking up positions in Russia’s Voronezh region, which borders Ukraine’s Luhansk region. The unit is believed to have six launchers and 120 ballistic missiles.

In Russia’s first reported use of North Korean missiles since last August, KN-23 ballistic missiles struck the village of Radushne, southeast of Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region, on July 30.
Recent Russian missile attacks have put further strain on Ukraine’s air-defence network, including systems based on the US-made Patriot.
The pressure has prompted Zelensky to call on South Korea to provide air-defence systems – which it is unlikely to do as South Korean law prohibits the export of weapons to countries at war. Seoul is also seeking to avoid an escalation of tensions with Moscow.
Given the lack of details surrounding the August 6 launch, Wednesday’s test could have been a follow-up to a possible failure, said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies.
The launch appeared to have had multiple objectives, he said. “It may be aimed at improving a tactical ballistic missile for export to Russia, or at testing an upgraded version of the Hwasong-11 series.”
It may also be linked to recent developments on the battlefield, including Russia’s escalating missile strikes against Ukraine and call to North Korea to send additional troops.
Another possible objective is to accumulate technology for submarine-launched ballistic missiles. North Korea is constructing a new nuclear-powered submarine and preparing for underwater launch tests.
Response to Japan
Yang noted that Wednesday’s launch came about a week after Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned that Pyongyang would take military action in response to Japan’s test-firing of long-range cruise missiles and other military build-ups.
On July 30, the Japanese Aegis destroyer JS Chokai launched a Tomahawk cruise missile in the Pacific Ocean for the first time, with support from the US Navy.
Kim condemned that test-firing as well as Japan’s participation in a US-led joint exercise in the Philippines in May.
Japan’s acquisition of a pre-emptive strike capability had “entered the stage of actual action”, she said, while denouncing the United States as the force behind Japan’s military build-up.
The distance Wednesday’s missile flew was roughly that between Wonsan and Sasebo Port in Japan, host to a US military base, said Hong Min, a senior research fellow at KINU.
Sasebo, scheduled to become the home port of an Amphibious Readiness Group, is one of the key logistics bases for US reinforcements deployed to the Korean peninsula in the event of a contingency. It is also the home port of destroyer JS Chokai.

“The launch was a possible message of protest at Japan’s military moves,” Hong said.
If North Korea were to extend the missile’s range to around 1,000km by incorporating a glide phase, the system could potentially cover much of southwestern Kyushu as well as areas hosting US military bases in Japan, he said.
Lee Il-woo, a senior analyst at the Korea Defence Network, said North Korea could have been testing newly produced KN-23 missiles before shipping them to Russia.
“The North is possibly evaluating the missile’s performance with new warheads and checking the accuracy of new guidance systems,” he said.
North Korea has significantly improved its circular error probable, a measure of missile accuracy, over the past few years, aided by Russia, according to Lee.
“Most alarmingly, through the war, North Korea is gaining experience in penetrating US missile-defence systems, which are also deployed in South Korea,” he said.
The experts say the latest launch is also a possible show of force ahead of the South Korea-US joint military exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield, scheduled to take place from August 17 to 27.
North Korea has long denounced Ulchi as an “exercise for an invasion” and has responded to the drills with provocations, including ballistic missile launches.


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North Korea missile launch hints at upgraded weapons exports to Russia for Ukraine war

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The KM-SAM Cheongung missile system on display during the Seoul International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition in Seongnam last year. Photo: AFP

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Ukrainian servicemen practice flying drones in a training centre at an undisclosed location in March. Photo: AFP

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shake hands during the signing ceremony for the strategic partnership in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Kremlin/AP

A still image taken from a handout video shows a Russian 220mm heavy multiple launch rocket system firing at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Photo: Russia Defence Ministry/EPA

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South Korean soldiers take part in an anti-drone drill in Yangju on December 29, 2022. Photo: South Korean Defence Ministry/Reuters

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North Korea usually reports launches but its silence in the recent tests raises the possibility they involved a top-secret new missile


North Korea usually reports launches but its silence in the recent tests raises the possibility they involved a top-secret new missile.


North Korea missile launch hints at upgraded weapons exports to Russia for Ukraine war

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}North Korea usually reports launches but its silence in the recent tests raises the possibility they involved a top-secret new missile

North Korea usually reports launches but its silence in the recent tests raises the possibility they involved a top-secret new missile