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| North Korea's 1st SLBM test launch (File Photo) |
By Ankit Panda
Analysis of North Korean video footage suggests a less-impressive submarine-launched ballistic missile test than Kim Jong-un would like.
If there’s anything we can state conclusively about North Korea’s approach to foreign affairs, it’s that Pyongyang has a tendency to exaggerate. The best recent example is its claim that it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb on January 6 when it almost certainly tested either a vanilla fission device or, at best, a boosted fission device. (In its state media, North Korea claimed it’s latest test cements its ability to “wipe out the whole territory of the U.S. all at once.)
Last year, in May, you may recall North Korea grabbing headlines for its supposed test of the KN-11 submarine-launched ballistic missile. A closer look at that test revealed that, contrary to Pyongyang’s suggestion of having successfully ejected an SLBM out of one of its Sinpo-class submarines, the missile was launched from an underwater barge.
Keeping in line with May’s test, it turns out that North Korea’s most recent KN-11 test was also exaggerated. I reported on the footage released by North Korean state media last week, days after the country’s fourth nuclear test, purporting to show, once again, the successful ejection of one of its SLBMs. Initial bits of analysis suggested that the video re-used footage from old missile launches and, generally, appeared fishy, with several long-distance shots and rapid cuts.
Read the full story at The Diplomat