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China-Japan-Koreas | |||
N. Korea Successfully Tests Short-Range SAM | |||
2011-06-15 | |||
North Korea's test launch of a KN-06 surface-to-air missile into the West Sea early this month appears to have been successful, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said at a hearing by the National Assembly's Defense Committee on Monday. "We believe North Korea was testing its latest weapon system and we have concluded that it was a success," Kim said, offering the first such confirmation of the test launch. North Korea unveiled the missile at a military parade celebrating the 65th anniversary of the founding of its Workers Party on October 10 last year. South Korea officially verified it as a KN-06 in its 2010 Defense White Paper. The KN-06 is a surface-to-air missile. Unlike previous North Korean missiles, such as the KN-02 inter-continental ballistic missile that follows an arch-like trajectory, the KN-06 is stored in a launching tube and fired vertically toward a flying target. It is similar to the Russian S-300, which is used to shoot down other missiles, and seems to be based on technology that North Korea secretly obtained from China, Russia and other countries. Showing its evolution from the S-300, which had a range of between 75 km and 90 km, the KN-06 is apparently capable of hitting targets up to 150 km away. Each launcher truck can hold two to three missiles.
"It has been a long time [since the North's nuclear test], so we believe the North had enough time to make a smaller or lighter nuclear weapon," he said. "Considering cases involving other countries, there is a strong chance that the North has succeeded." Meanwhile, Kim confirmed a report by AP last month claiming that North Korea was nearing the completion of a second long-range missile base in Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province. Kim said his intelligence reports showed the new base to be larger and more complex than Pyongyang's existing missile base in Musudan-ri, North Hamgyong Province. In a bid to allay fears of a surprise attack from the North, the defense minister stressed that the South Korean military is capable of delivering effective attacks in case of provocation from across the border. It can also detect signs that the North is mounting nuclear warheads onto its missiles, he said.
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Posted by:Steve White |
#2 Maybe its just me, but I'm reading North Korea while sensing PAKISTAN, i.e. Pak's new Anti-COLD START/INDJUH Tac Missles??? |
Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-06-15 23:15 |
#1 "Miniature" warheads. DPRK Copy of PLA DF-21 ASBMS??? * ION PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > SOUTH KOREA DEFENSE CHIEF: LIKELIHOOD OF "SURPRISE PROVOCATION" BY NORTH KOREA ON RISE. Kimmie's best card remains US-China nuclear "brinkmanship", i.e. induc US-China mil confrontationism iff not conflict in NE Asia, espec iff the DPRKs' famine, econ woes continue unabated or worsen; or in the alternative that Kim family dynastic/ruling power becoms untenable. KIMMIE + REGIME ARE WILLING TO SUPPORT THE NEW SINO-DPRK FTAS ONLY AS LONG AS THEIR DOMINANCE IN DPRK GOVT. REMAINS INTACT, I.E. ARE NOT EXECUTED + STRUNG UPSIDE DOWN LIKE MUSSOLINI + MISTRESS BY THE DPRK PEOPLE + ARMY. * SAME > [ROK's new NorthWest DefCom]SOUTH KOREAN SETS UP DEFENSE COMMAND FOR YELLOW SEA ISLANDS NEAR NORTH KOREA. |
Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-06-15 00:56 |