The Joint Chiefs of Staff said on the 16th that “North Korea fired an unknown projectile from the Sunan area around 9:30 today (Pyongyang), but it is presumed that it failed immediately following launch.” The military is said to be conducting detailed analysis on the type and flight trajectory of the missile.
There are speculations that North Korea may have failed to launch the Hwasong-17, a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that North Korea claimed to be a ‘space launch vehicle’ for testing the development of a reconnaissance satellite. A military source said, “There is a possibility that a problem occurred while trying to fire the world’s largest ICBM weighing more than 100 tons from a mobile launch vehicle (TEL), or a malfunction occurred in engine propellant, etc.”
Earlier, an American private satellite company recently released a photo of a structure presumed to be a concrete facility for supporting an ICBM launch pad at Sunan Airfield.
Previously, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported that North Korea had fired an object with potential ballistic missiles this morning. NHK reported, citing an official from the Ministry of Defense, that “there is information that a possible ballistic missile was launched from North Korea.”
“The Ministry of Defense is collecting information to see if there is any impact on Japan,” he said.
By Yoon Sang-ho, military reporter [email protected]
