The North Korean Missile Threat [Infographic]

North Korea held a huge military parade on Saturday evening to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the country’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. The highly choreographed event was unusual in that it was held during the hours of darkness and foreigners in Pyongyang were ordered to steer clear of it. A host of new and advanced weaponry was unveiled including a new main battle tank, next generation rocket artillery systems and updated surface-to-air missile launchers. As alarming as the unexpected appearance of the new and modern military hardware was to western observers, the sight of mammoth intercontinental ballistic missile launchers rumbling through Kim Il Sung Square was the biggest revelation of the evening.

The massive missiles are unknown to outside observers but most seem to agree that they are an even larger version of the Hwasong-15 which boasts a range of more than 13,000 kilometers, putting the entire United States within striking distance. That ICBM was first test-fired on November 28, 2017 and it is transported on a nine-axle transporter erector launch vehicle (TEL) which is larger than the eight-axle model used to transport the earlier Hwasong-14. The latest TEL has no fewer than 11 axles which suggests that this third-generation North Korean ICBM boasts an ever greater range than its two predecessors. It remains unclear whether the TEL itself is also domestically developed or whether it was acquired from China.

Some observers stated that the 11-axle TEL makes the new ICBM somewhat unwieldy, difficult to maneuver and possibly vulnerable to air attack in the event of hostilities. That is why the appearance of the Pukkuksong-4 submarine-launched ballistic missile was just as striking, given that it can be launched from the ocean depths where it would be extremely difficult to detect. While its range is currently unknown, the new SLBM is an advancement on the existing Pukkuksong-3 (KN-26) which reportedly has an operational radius of 1,900 kilometers. The following infographic provides an overview of the North Korean missile threat ahead of Saturday’s event using data from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

*Click below to enlarge (charted by Statista)