North Korea claims its nuclear forces are capable of destroying its rivals, and often follows its provocative weapons tests with launch details
By KIM TONG-HYUNG and HYUNG-JIN KIM
North Korea said it had launched a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile on Saturday to verify the weapon’s reliability and combat readiness of the country’s nuclear forces. It’s one of three kinds of ICBMs the country has developed, along with the Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-17. All three are liquid-fueled, and North Korea has portrayed them all as nuclear-capable.
A South Korean biennial defense document released last week said that it’s not clear whether the missiles can survive re-entry, because all of North Korea’s ICBM tests have so far been made on high angles. In a military parade earlier this month, North Korea showcased around a dozen ICBMs, an unprecedented number that suggested progress in its efforts to mass-produce powerful weapons.
Some experts argue that North Korea has likely already built miniaturized nuclear warheads to be mounted on missiles citing the number of years the country has spent on its nuclear and missile programs. But others say North Korea is still years away from producing such warheads. North Korea’s Yongbyon complex has facilities to produce both plutonium and highly enriched uranium, the two main ingredients to build nuclear weapons.
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