Failed test scatters debris around airport near Pyongyang

North Korea

Published: 16 Mar. 2022, 18:09

Failed test scatters debris around airport near Pyongyang

North Korea test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), Hwasong-12, on Jan. 30 as shown in photos released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) a day later. The photos show the missile launched from a transporter erector launcher (TEL) and images taken by a camera on the missile warhead from space. [KCNA]

North Korea launched an unidentified projectile from an airfield near Pyongyang Wednesday morning but the test failed almost immediately, according to the South Korean military authorities.

It was suspected to be a long-range ballistic missile.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) sent a text message to reporters at 10:06 a.m. about the failed launch, adding that South Korean and U.S. intelligence were analyzing the launch.

The projectile exploded at an altitude of less than 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) after being launched from Sunan Airport near Pyongyang. The mid-air explosion sprayed debris over areas near the capital, according to NK News.

The announcement from the JCS came after Japanese broadcaster NHK issued a news report that a North Korean missile test was imminent, citing an unnamed Japanese defense official.

The failed launch came shortly after South Korean intelligence told the JoongAng Ilbo on Sunday that Seoul had detected signs that the North was gearing up to launch additional missiles from Sunan Airport.

Satellite imagery of the airport taken between March 5 and 11 suggested that the regime was preparing for a missile launch by laying down concrete strips to reinforce the runway surface.

Amid a flurry of missile tests — seven in January alone — Pyongyang conducted two missile tests on Feb. 27 and March 5, also at Sunan Airport.

In state media reports on those two tests, the North claimed the launches were aimed at developing the country’s space program by placing a reconnaissance satellite into orbit.

However, South Korean and U.S. intelligence believe that the purported satellite missile launches were actually tests of the Hwasong-17 ICBM.

The Hwasong-17 was first unveiled at an Oct. 10, 2020 military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North’s ruling Korean Workers’ Party. It was also displayed at a defense exhibition in Pyongyang last Oct. 12.

With an estimated length of 23 meters (74.5 feet) and a 2.3-meter diameter, the Hwasong-17 is the largest ICBM in the world.

The missile is believed to be propelled by several Paektusan-type liquid-fuel engines developed by the North, which “likely suffered a technical malfunction” during Wednesday’s launch despite “having been verified through previous launches,” according to Lee Chungeun, an honorary fellow at the Sejong-based Science and Technology, in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s failed launch is the first by the North since the election of Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative People Power Party, which is expected to take a harder stance on Pyongyang's development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.

On the campaign trail, Yoon suggested that South Korea should once again host U.S. tactical nuclear weapons on its soil and hone its capability to strike first against the North if an attack against the South is detected.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]