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By Yi Whan-woo
North Korea has moved closer to developing a long-range missile that can ultimately hit the U.S. mainland.
Pyongyang's future missile tests will also be geared to attain this goal, analysts said Thursday.
Pyongyang is believed to have built a missile that has a range of 13,000 kilometers and is capable of directly reaching the continental U.S. as well as Alaska and Hawaii.
"North Korea successfully fired the Unha-3 rocket in 2012, and it would make sense to say the military regime has continued to carry out its rocket program since then to extend the range of its missiles," said Kim Jong-dae, a military commentator.
On Dec. 12, 2012, the Kim Jong-un regime launched the Unha-3 rocket that allegedly put a satellite into orbit.
South Korea and other U.S.-led allies suspect that Pyongyang's rocket program is merely a cover for ballistic missile tests.
The Unha-3 rocket, which had a range of 10,000 kilometers, may have been used in developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Yang Uk, a senior research fellow at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, agreed with Kim Jong-dae.
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Yang cited the KN-08, an ICBM that Pyongyang has been developing for years.
It is believed to be capable of flying 12,000 kilometers and can be moved using a transporter-erector-launcher.
"There are still a number of technologies that North Korea has not proven to the outside world in terms of KN-08's capabilities, such as endurance at high speed when it leaves the Earth's atmosphere and re-enters it," Yang said. "But I wouldn't raise any doubt about its travel range."
The experts said the ICBMs may pose more of a threat to the U.S. if North Korea can mount miniaturized nuclear warheads on the tip of those missiles and fire them from submarines.
In May 2015, the Kim regime purportedly tested a submarine-launched missile (SLBM) and also claimed that it had long-range missiles loaded with small and diversified nuclear warheads.
"North Korea will be able to deploy submarines and launch a nuclear strike against the U.S. military bases in Japan, Guam as well as be able to hit the U.S mainland if it can make a nuclear warhead weighing less than one ton," Kim Jong-dae said. "Under such circumstances, the U.S. missile shield will not be effective to spot a North Korean submarine carrying a nuclear-tipped missile so it can destroy it in advance."
"It's apparent that Pyongyang will never give up developing an SLBM, and the U.S. and its allies should take the threat from such a weapon into account," Yang said.
An analyst said Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs are aimed at drawing attention from Washington.
"The nuclear and ballistic missile programs are like two sides of the same coin," said Park Young-ho, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
"You can't separate them and it can be said that North Korea is preparing to fire a ballistic missile in addition to its latest nuclear test on Jan. 6 to engage in dialogue with the U.S." he said.
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