[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] The 'North Missile Code Number' Assigned by Our Military Is

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu Reporter] Military authorities reportedly assigned their own separate codes to the launch systems publicly revealed by North Korea last year, classifying the launch systems into six types.

Until now, our military has conventionally used the names assigned by the U.S. Department of Defense to North Korean missiles. The U.S. Department of Defense attaches the prefix "KN," which is the reverse order of the initials of North Korea's English name, whenever North Korea launches a new missile. When North Korea launched a 160 km range anti-ship missile in February 2003, the U.S. Department of Defense named it KN-01, and subsequent discoveries were numbered accordingly.

According to military authorities on the 19th, the Joint Chiefs of Staff assigned a total of six names from 19-1 to 19-6 based on the launch systems identified in videos publicly released by North Korea last year. However, the classification of six types of launch systems does not necessarily mean that only six types of projectiles were actually launched. It appears that the military classified weapon systems identified in publicly released videos regardless of whether they were actually launched.

The military considers that out of the total 13 North Korean projectile launches last year, 12 were short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM), excluding submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM).

According to the military classification, the new KN-23 short-range missiles launched on May 4, May 9, July 25, and August 6 last year were classified as 19-1. North Korea claimed these missiles were new tactical guided missiles at the time. The new tactical surface-to-surface missiles (North Korean version of ATACMS) launched on August 10 and August 16 last year were classified as 19-4. The launch systems that North Korea claimed to be super-large multiple rocket launchers launched on August 24, September 10, October 31, and November 28 were named 19-5.

The submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) launched on October 2 last year is 19-6. North Korea claims this SLBM is the Pukguksong-3. The launches on July 31 and August 2 last year were assigned 19-2 and 19-3 respectively. North Korea claims 19-2 and 19-3 are new large-caliber guided multiple rocket launchers, but the military classified them as unidentified SRBMs.

Contrary to North Korea's claims, it is suggested that the new large-caliber guided multiple rocket launchers were not actually launched and that ballistic missiles may have been launched instead. When North Korea claimed to have launched the new large-caliber guided multiple rocket launchers, the military analyzed the flight speed of the projectiles and concluded that they were likely ballistic missiles. The difference between the military's analysis of 19-2 and 19-3 and North Korea's claims sparked controversy over the accuracy of South Korean military intelligence gathering and judgment.

According to the military classification, the new short-range missile sets actually launched by North Korea last year can be seen as three types excluding the new large-caliber guided multiple rocket launcher. The three types are 19-1, called the "North Korean version of Iskander," 19-4, the new tactical surface-to-surface missile, and 19-5, the super-large multiple rocket launcher.

Meanwhile, John Hyten, the second-highest ranking U.S. military officer and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expressed strong vigilance, stating, "North Korea is developing new missiles and weapons faster than any other country on Earth."

Vice Chairman Hyten said at a security-related lecture held on the 17th at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC, "Chairman Kim Il-sung and Chairman Kim Jong-il conducted missile launch tests 9 and 22 times respectively during their tenures, but Chairman Kim Jong-un has conducted 67 missile launch tests since taking power."

Vice Chairman Hyten explained, "There is a big difference between Chairman Kim Jong-un and his father and grandfather. In previous generations, if a missile test failed, technicians and scientists were neglected and the tests were stopped, but Chairman Kim Jong-un learns from failures, makes corrections, and conducts launch tests again to improve performance." He added, "In this way, North Korea is developing new missiles, new capabilities, and new weapons faster than any other country on Earth."