Advertisement
North Korea
AsiaEast Asia

North Korea ploughs on with firing its missiles – some Soviet-era, South says

  • The North carried on with its testing spree on Wednesday, firing at least one missile that reportedly fell into the sea minutes after launch
  • Seoul said a missile that landed near South Korean waters last week was a SA-5. The North took delivery of its SA-5 systems in the mid-1980s

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
1
Debris of a salvaged North Korean projectile identified as parts of a Soviet-era SA-5 surface-to-air missile seen on display at South Korea’s Defence Ministry on Wednesday. Photo: Yonhap via Reuters
Reuters
North Korea fired at least one ballistic missile into the sea on Wednesday, as South Korea said it had identified debris from an earlier launch as part of a Soviet-era SA-5 surface-to-air missile.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it had detected the launch of an unspecified ballistic missile from North Korea, but no further details, such as the projectile’s flight range, were immediately available.

Japan’s coastguard also tracked the missile, and said it appeared to have fallen into the sea minutes after the launch was first reported.
A combination of images released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency earlier this month shows various missile tests at undisclosed locations. Photo: AFP
A combination of images released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency earlier this month shows various missile tests at undisclosed locations. Photo: AFP
The launch came after South Korea concluded an analysis of what it had initially said was part of a North Korean short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) that landed near South Korean waters last week.

The analysis, however, showed the piece, about 3 metres (3.3 yards) long and 2 metres wide, was part of a SA-5 anti-aircraft missile, the defence ministry said, citing its appearance and features.

The ministry strongly condemned the missile launch at the time, calling it a breach of a 2018 inter-Korean military pact banning any activities stoking border tensions.

“This SA-5 missile launch was a clearly deliberate, intentional provocation,” it said in a statement. “The SA-5 also has characteristics of a surface-to-surface missile, and Russia has used similar missiles in Ukraine for surface-to-surface attacks.”

Advertisement