By Choi Ha-young
North Korea has not yet crossed the “red line” that could trigger military action because it failed to prove it has completed the development of necessary technologies in its latest missile test, the Ministry of Unification said Friday.
At a press conference in August, President Moon Jae-in said Pyongyang would cross the red line that could trigger military action by allies “if it perfects intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) technology by tipping with a nuclear weapon.”
Asked about the North’s missile test on Wednesday, ministry spokeswoman Lee Yoo-jin said: “The government views that the latest missile launch has failed to prove its capacity of reentry, terminal guidance and warhead activation.
“The North has not yet crossed the red line.”
The remarks coincide with President Moon’s message to United States President Donald Trump.
“The launch on Wednesday was apparently the most advanced one so far, but North Korea’s reentry and terminal guidance capacities have not yet been proven,” presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun said Friday after a phone call between the two presidents. “It is also unclear whether the North has mastered the technology of miniaturizing a nuclear warhead.”
The Ministry of National Defense echoed the point. In a briefing to lawmakers Friday, the ministry kept branding the Hwasong-15 as “ICBM level.”
“Considering the Hwasong-15’s appearance, it is presumed as a late model ICBM,” Yeo Suk-joo, policy office chief at the ministry, said in the National Assembly National Defense Committee “If the missile was fired at a normal angle, it could travel over 13,000 kilometers, including Washington, D.C., in its range.
“However, it requires additional inspection before judging it has perfected reentry, terminal guidance and warhead activation.”
Defense Minister Song Young-moo said the regime intentionally exaggerates its missile skills to stabilize its rule and show off leader Kim Jong-un’s achievement. “The regime will overrate its military technology in the upcoming New Year’s address, saying the leader successfully enhanced both the economy and military power,” the minister told lawmakers.
Michael Elleman, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the North may announce the Hwasong-15 combat ready after only “two or three test-firings over next four to six months.”
“Additional flight tests should be performed to determine the missile’s reliability, establish its accuracy and verify the reentry protection system,” the expert said on the 38 North website, Thursday.
A day before, Elleman said the North’s Hwasong-14 and 15 were tested with very small payloads to exaggerate the range that can be achieved with a North Korean nuclear weapon. The ICBM’s capacity to target the U.S. mainland has been considered an effective bargaining chip in an envisioned negotiation with the U.S.