[Anchor]
North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles into the East Sea yesterday (October 12) morning. The launch appears to be a show of force against South Korea's hypersonic missile test-launch, which President Lee Jae-myung observed five days ago.
Choi Jae-yeong reports.
[Reporter]
Starting around 9:20 a.m. yesterday, North Korea fired ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area into the East Sea.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that several missiles of different types were launched, and one of them flew more than 900 kilometers.
Japan's Ministry of Defense also announced that "at least two" missiles were fired, analyzing that the missile launched around 9:19 a.m. flew about 220 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 20 kilometers, while the missile launched 17 minutes later, around 9:36 a.m., flew over 910 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 70 kilometers.
The missile with the shorter flight distance is presumed to be a Hwasong-11-series short-range ballistic missile or a KN-25 super-large multiple rocket launcher deployed for operational use by North Korea.
In contrast, analysts suggest that the missile flying more than 900 kilometers could be either a hypersonic missile or a ballistic missile fitted with a high-yield warhead.
[Shin Jong-woo / Senior Analyst at the Korea Defense and Security Forum (Yesterday): "If it performed a gliding flight, it is highly likely to be a hypersonic missile under development by North Korea, and if it lacked gliding flight characteristics, it could also be (a missile equipped with) a high-yield warhead."]
North Korea's provocation came four days after the South Korean government made public the success of its first test-launch of a domestically developed hypersonic glide vehicle.
[Jang Do-young / Head of the Public Affairs Office, Joint Chiefs of Staff (Yesterday): "We currently assess this as a show of force against our successful hypersonic missile test-launch conducted on October 8..."]
The National Security Office convened an emergency security assessment meeting to review readiness posture and urged North Korea to immediately halt ballistic missile launches.
(Camera by Kim Hyun-sang | Video by Oh Young-taek | Graphics by Yang Ki-tae)
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