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N. Korea's Thanksgiving Day test Demonstrates an Improvement in the Speed of Missile Crews

SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed "great satisfaction" over the latest test of a large multiple-rocket launcher, the state media reported on Friday, a test that experts said showed the improved performance of the system as well as its crews.



Two short-range projectiles were fired by North Korea into the sea off its east coast on Thursday in the fourth test of their "super-large multiple rocket launcher", South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced during a briefing.



N.Korea's Thanksgiving Day test shows the improvement in missile crews' speed. Back to the video



The United States was reminded by Kim on Thanksgiving Day that Washington has an end-of-year deadline to meet in order to allow Kim to test the KN-25 missile.



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Article content The series of tests conducted since the KN-25 was first announced in August have shown the North Koreans steadily improving their ability to quickly fire multiple rockets from their mobile launchers.



Experts have said that this capability increases the likelihood that North Korean rocket crews could quickly deploy, fire, and move in the event of war before being targeted by South Korean forces or American forces.



"The more quickly it fires, the faster it will (get) out of the way before the counter-fire is ready," Jeffrey Lewis, a missile researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) stated on Twitter.



"READY FOR DEPLOYMENT"



In the first two KN-25 tests conducted in August and September , missiles were fired 17 minutes and 19 minutes apart, respectively, the JCS stated.



Content of the article By the end of October crews had narrowed that interval to three minutes. However, on Thursday, the distance between the two missiles was 30 seconds.



"The test fire that was designed to test the combat capabilities of the super large multiple-launch rocket systems, proved the military and technological superiority of this weapon system as well as its firm reliability," KCNA stated.



Photos released by KCNA showed missiles being fired from a transporter-erector-launcher equipped with four launcher tubes.



The new short-range missiles pose a direct threat to South Korea and U.S. forces stationed there, experts say.



The missiles travelled up to 338 km (236 miles) and reached an altitude of 97 km according to the JCS, putting nearly all of South Korea within range.



Content of the article "North Korea is attempting to upgrade its conventional forces in a low-cost and high-efficiency manner to concentrate on the economy and reassure its military talks on nuclear issues are underway and the rocket launcher is a product of that effort," said Kim Dong-yub an ex- South Korean Navy officer who is a professor at Kyungnam University in Seoul.



"The most recent test showed that the system was in good condition for mass production and deployment."



COUNT DOWN TO A DEADLINE



On Friday, a spokesperson from Seoul's Unification Ministry responsible for inter-Korean issues called on North Korea to halt any acts that could increase tensions in the military and return to dialogue.



Kim has set a end of year deadline to restart talks with the United States, which remain in limbo following last month's working-level meeting.



Article content While undertaking negotiations with Washington, North Korea has demonstrated progress in conventional weapons development.



South Korean lawmakers claimed that they had a South Korean intelligence agency reported an increase in vehicles and equipment movements at the Tongchangri missile launch site which Pyongyang claimed that it had destroyed in January.



In the spring of this year, it was able to test new missiles with similar characteristics to Russia's SS-26 Iskander which are relatively smaller, but easier to conceal launch, maneuver and maneuver in flight.



North Korea has demanded biting sanctions to be lifted and warned that it could embark on an "new direction," raising concerns it might restart long-range and nuclear missile tests that were suspended in 2017.



Stephen Biegun, the U.S.'s most powerful nuclear negotiator said last week that the deadline to end the year was a ruse, but it could be a signal of a return to "provocative" actions in place prior to the two years. (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith; Editing by Sandra Maler and Stephen Coates)

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