Oh Soo-young, Arirang News, dated Feb 20th, 2023, North Korea continues with its missile launches, firing two more short-range ballistic missiles this morning.

This follows just two days after an ICBM launch in response to the allies’ joint exercises.

The regime also warns South Korea and the U.S. that it could turn the Pacific into a “firing range.”

Our defense ministry correspondent Oh Soo-young talked to military officials and experts to read between the lines.

North Korea's missile launches over the past three days were aimed at making a political point, rather than a technological improvement.

The regime's firing of two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Monday was followed by unusually swift state media reports denouncing South Korea and the United States' combined air drills held the day before.

The exercise had mobilized key U.S. strategic assets, including B-1B bombers and F-35 stealth fighters, in response to North Korea's firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Saturday.

Compared to past reports by the North, which included specifics about new technical enhancements to its weapons through testing, the North Korean report focused on condemning the South Korea-U.S. alliance, and the allies' scheduled joint drills.

While the regime bragged about its tactical nuclear weapons systems, and threatened to use the Pacific as a missile firing range, South Korean military officials and experts say the frenzied statements reveal little about the North's actual capabilities.

"It is clear that the N. Korean government and armed forces are feeling pressure to demonstrate that the ICBM of N. Korea ranging from Hwasong 15 to 17, are indeed capable of hitting the U.S.. The country has not mastered the essential technology to have the ICBMs re-enter the atmosphere without any significant damages."

Also, an official at Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters Monday that it's unlikely Pyongyang is able to mount a nuclear warhead onto the 600-milimeter multiple rocket launcher used Monday morning, as verifying this would require further weapons testing.

The official added that the North, on Saturday, is likely to have chosen to launch the smaller Hwasong-15 ICBM, rather than the newest Hwasong-17, as the earlier model is closer to completion, now likely in the final stage of verification.

The North's testing of the Hwasong-17 ended in failure last November, as it broke apart and crashed into the sea after second stage separation.

Also, by launching the smaller ICBM, it seems the North is saving room for bigger provocations.

Seoul and Washington believe the North may escalate its activities over the coming weeks, as it has key state anniversaries and a satellite launch coming up in April.

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Arirang also reported on Feb 21st, 2023 that South Korea conducted an air-to-air refueling drill on Tuesday, proving its ability to operate advanced fighter jets amid North Korea's growing threat to security. The Air Force mobilized its latest F-35A --the so-called "Freedom Knight" --stealth fighter and a KC-330 multipurpose refueling tanker. The F-35A comes with advanced stealth and electronic warfare capabilities and flies faster than the speed of sound with a maximum speed of Mach 1-point-6. Its stealth function allows it to go undetected by enemy radars, and infiltrate enemy territory and strike key targets. This is the first time the air force has publicly announced that it has carried out a refueling drill.

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Arirang News, Dated 2/16/2023, Seoul's new defense white paper identifies the North Korea Leader Kim Jong-un regime as an "enemy" for the first time in six years given its military provocations and pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Our Defense Ministry Correspondent Oh Soo-young  reports.

North Korea is once again defined as South Korea’s enemy in the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's first defense white paper.

As anticipated, the Defense Ministry's 2022 white paper revives the line that was removed under the previous Moon Jae-in government.

"We intend for the public to clearly recognize the reality and seriousness of the North Korean threat. In particular, the report states clearly that ‘the North Korean regime and military are our enemies.'"

The report refers to how the North described the South as a “clear enemy" in December, and how Pyongyang aims for the "communization" of the entire Korean Peninsula.

It also points to the North's continued military provocations and incursions into the South as well as maritime buffer zones, particularly its violations of the 2018 inter-Korean agreement on defusing tensions across the heavily armed border.

According to the white paper, Pyongyang has also continued to produce weapons-grade nuclear materials.

The paper also added new seven new models to the list of the North's known projectiles. These include close-range and short-range ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, hypersonics, and the massive Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile.

In light of these threats, Seoul aims to strengthen its 3-axis system, focusing more on pre-emptive strikes and retaliatory measures that could take out the North Korean leadership.

"So it really clears any kind of uncertainty regarding what kind of strategies South Korea has, especially when it comes to N. Korea. So it means that the South Korea military is going to have to take a proactive posture to deter from North Korea, and also it means more cross coordination with the U.S. which is our most important ally."

The paper offers greater detail on implementing Washington's Extended Deterrence policy that offers security assurance for allies under conventional or nuclear attack.

In its bid to strengthen security ties with Washington and Tokyo, Seoul describes Japan as a “close” neighbour which shares its values, highlighting the need to build "futuristic, cooperative relations".

Still, Seoul says it remains firmly against Japan’s revisionist historical and territorial claims.

Looking beyond Korean Peninsula, South Korea also sets out to play a greater role in regional security, and is reviewing more specific ways to enhance cooperation with Indo-Pacific countries.

"To address both existing and emerging security threats, the white paper also lays out plans to transform the military with cutting-edge technologies ranging from AI to cyber warfare and space tech.

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CNN, North Korea Shows Off Largest-Ever Number Of Nuclear Missiles At Nighttime Parade Live | Kim Jong Un

Nuclear-armed North Korea showcased its missile production muscle during a nighttime parade, state media reported on Thursday (February 9), displaying more intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) than ever before and hinting at a new solid-fuel weapon.

Footage released by KRT state media of the Wednesday (February 8) night parade showed as many as 11 Hwasong-17s, North Korea's largest ICBM, which are suspected to be able to strike nearly anywhere in the world with a nuclear warhead. The Hwasong-17 was first tested last year. Alongside them at the parade were what some analysts said could be a prototype or mockup of a new solid-fuel ICBM in canister launchers.

Leader Kim Jong Un attended the grand military showcase with his daughter, who is seen as playing a possible future leadership role in the hereditary dictatorship.

N. Korean leader Kim Jong-un calls for perfecting war readiness in his first public appearance of 2023

Arirang News February 7th, 2023:  According to the Arirang News, Reporter : Reporter Lee Kyong Un, kelee@arirang.com In his first public appearance of the year North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called on the regime's military to beef up its war readiness. North Korea's state-run media reported on Tuesday that the leader presided over a meeting of the regime's Central Military Commission on Monday where he pledged to expand combat drills and strictly perfect the country's preparedness for war. The meeting comes just a few days after Pyongyang condemned drills by the U.S. and its allies saying the drills threatened to turn the Korean Peninsula into a "more critical war zone." The meeting marks leader Kim Jong-un's first public appearance since the last day of 2022 when he unveiled a nuclear-capable “super-large multiple launch rocket system". Last year, Guadian News in July 28th, 2022: Stated,   In a speech to commemorate the event, Kim said his country is ready to mobilise its nuclear war deterrent and denounced South Korea's new conservative president Yoon Suk-yeol by name for the first time, labelling attempts to neutralise the North's military as 'nonsense'.

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The Hwasong-17 (Korean: is a North Korean two-stage ICBM, first unveiled on 10 October 2020, the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) parade.  This missile is the latest iteration of North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program, and it has the greatest perceived range out North Korea's missile arsenal (15,000 km+).  It had its maiden flight on 24 March 2022.

At the Self-Defence-2021 exhibition, the missile was shown labeled as the Hwasong-17

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Test launches of the Hwasong-17 were carried out first on 26 February 2022, and again on 4 March. North Korea did not publicize news of the launches, with INDOPACOM revealing them later. The United States believed the tests were not intended to demonstrate the ICBM's range but conduct early evaluations of its capabilities. North Korea publicly claimed the launches were intended to test components of a reconnaissance satellite at operational altitudes without disclosing they had been lofted by the new ICBM. It is possible the launches were done to test both satellite components and the ICBM, but only the former was admitted to limit potential international criticism.  Missile expert Jeffrey Lewis also raised the possibility that these were launches of the post-boost vehicle for the second stage of the Hwasong-17.  A missile launch was attempted on 16 March 2022, but it was a failure. It is suspected that it was a Hwasong-17 test, but was not acknowledged by North Korea due to the unsuccessful launch.

A test launch was carried out and then officially confirmed on 24 March 2022, which resulted in a complete technical success which broke many records for North Korea, for example regarding height and flight time.  The footage of the launch may have been doctored, with missile analysts being unable to confirm that the missile that was launched on 24 March was a Hwasong-17,  due to inconsistencies with objects in the background of the launch, which matched to satellite imagery on an earlier date than 24 March. Two shots of the observation bus that Kim Jong-un was in appeared to be taken in different locations and grass that was burnt in a controlled burn appeared to be unburnt on Korean Central Television footage. South Korean intelligence alleges that the missile launched on 24 March was likely an improved and modified Hwasong-15, though NK News also stated that there may be other reasons for using old footage, such as a camera failure.

Lofted trajectories of Hwasong-14/15/17

 North Korea announces successful ICBM test. NK News.org (5 July 2017). Apogee of 2,802 km (1,741 mi), landing 933 km (580 mi) North Korea announces successful ICBM test. NK News.org (28 July 2017). Apogee of 3,724.9 km (2,314.5 mi), landing 998 km (620 mi) North Korea announces first test of Hwasong-15 ICBM. NK News.org (November 29, 2017). “soaring to the highest altitude of 4475 km” and flying 950 km Striking Demonstration of Great Military Muscle of Juche Korea. KCNA.kp (March 25, 2022). "altitude of 6,248.5 km and flew a distance of 1,090 km"

Trajectories of Hwasong-14. Very high angle lofted trajectory. First flight: Second flight: First flight of Hwasong-15:

24 March 2022   Sil-li missile facility, near Pyongyang International Airport.  Signs of an ICBM or satellite launch were allegedly detected by USA.[8] Success First announced test of the Hwasong-17, with an apogee of 6248.5 km and a horizontal displacement of 1090 km, with a total flight time of 4052 seconds.

Supreme leader Kim Jong-un supervised the launch, and celebrated with soldiers and researchers from the Academy of National Defense Science.

The launch could have instead been an extended range Hwasong-15, with video footage of the launch being inconsistent with the conditions on 24 March.

December 31, 2022

North Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles again
on Saturday Morning

December 31, 2022

Sources:  Arirang News, Youtube, Guadian News, CNN, Yunhap News Agency,
catch4all.com, Sandra Englund

Rev. February 6th, 2023 Rev. February 17, 2022