North Korea said Thursday’s launch was of Hwasong-17, a huge new ICBM unveiled at a military parade before dawn in October 2020, but never before tested in public. read more However, analysts said that the shadows, the weather and other aspects of the images suggest that the North Korean launch actually took place at a different date and time. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “Multiple visuals suggest that the North Korean version of events is misleading at best and possibly a complete construction of a successful Hwasong-17 test at worst,” said NK Pro, a Seoul-based research site that tracks North Korea. . report. There is no doubt that a missile test took place on Thursday and was the largest and highest North Korea has ever conducted. Flight data were independently confirmed by South Korea and Japan, which monitored the launch. read more However, the NK Pro report said that the missile appearing in the state media coverage may in fact be the one that South Korea said exploded in the air shortly after its March 16 launch. An overview of what the state media reports is the launch of the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) “Hwasong-17” in this undated photo released on March 25, 2022 by the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). KCNA through REUTERS North Korea has never publicly acknowledged this apparent test launch or its failure, which reportedly fell into debris in or near Pyongyang. Michael Duitsman, with the US-based James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), said the centre’s researchers agreed that some of the plans released by North Korea were from the failed test on the morning of March 16 and not from the March 24 test. , which occurred around 2:24 p.m. Photos and videos released by North Korean state media show a Hwasong-17 taking off from its 22-wheeled transport, erector, launcher (TEL) at Pyongyang airport. “TEL Shadow matches a morning launch much better than an afternoon launch,” he said on Twitter. U.S. and South Korean officials have previously said the Hwasong-17 system was tested during launches on February 27 and March 5, but not at full range or capability. Neither Washington nor Seoul has confirmed which missile is involved in the failed launch, nor has it commented on the discrepancies in North Korea’s claims. South Korean media are citing unnamed officials as examining whether North Korea had actually launched an older and smaller type of ICBM, the Hwasong-15, which had previously been tested in November 2017. “While this does not mean that the March 24 test was a Hwasong-15, it raises questions,” Duitsman said of the images. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Josh Smith Editing by Ros Russell Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
