North Korea shows new features of ICBM

The photos released Thursday by the North Korea's Rodong Sinmun show a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile being launched Wednesday and a new 18-wheel transporter erector launcher. / Yonhap

By Jun Ji-hye

North Korea released 40 photos Thursday of what it claimed was a new, more powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that it tested the previous day, showing a new 18-wheel transporter erector launcher (TEL).

The new TEL indicated the Hwasong-15 ICBM is longer than the Hwasong-14 ICBM that was carried on a 16-wheel TEL, and was tested twice in July.

The photos also showed a different warhead shape from the Hwasong-14 -- the Hwasong-15's looked round and blunt, while that of the Hwasong-14 was pointed.

The Kim Jong-un regime released the photos through the Rodong Sinmun, a newspaper of the Workers' Party of Korea, a day after it launched a Hwasong-15, saying that the missile test was successful and that its new missile is capable of reaching all parts of the U.S. mainland.

Other photos showed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observing the test and cheering the successful launch with scientists and party officials.

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The North's state-run Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) also mentioned the development of the new TEL, saying Kim, who supervised the entire test, visited the site "where technical preparations for the rocket were underway late at night to see the 9-axis self-propelled launching vehicle manufactured by workers of the munitions industry."

The report, published hours after the missile launch, said the test confirmed "mobile and hoisting capabilities and operational reliability of the launching system of the nine-axis, self-propelled launching vehicle newly developed and completed."

Later in the day, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a press briefing that it has also confirmed the clear differences between the Hwasong-15 and the Hwasong-14.

"There are differences in the warhead shape, the connection between the first and second stages (of the missile) and the overall size," JCS spokesman Army Col. Roh Jae-cheon said. "We assess that the Hwasong-15 is a new type."

Roh added that the Hwasong-15 was seen as an improved version from the Hwasong-14, but additional analysis will be necessary to find out more details.

According to a North Korean government statement, carried by the KCNA, Wednesday, the missile, launched on a lofted trajectory from an area 30 kilometers north of Pyongyang, flew 960 kilometers for 53 minutes and reached a maximum altitude of 4,475 kilometers.

Defense analysts said if the missile had been fired on a standard trajectory, it could have flown more than 10,000 kilometers, which is, in theory, far enough to reach the U.S. mainland.

"The Hwasong-15 ICBM type weaponry system is an intercontinental ballistic rocket tipped with a super-large heavy warhead which is capable of striking the entire mainland of the U.S.," the statement said.

For his part, U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to impose additional sanctions against Pyongyang in response to the latest missile launch, which broke a 75-day lull in the North's provocations.

"Just spoke to President Xi Jinping of China concerning the provocative actions of North Korea. Additional major sanctions will be imposed on North Korea today. This situation will be handled!" Trump tweeted Wednesday.

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