Contrary to what it claimed, North Korea did not launch a "monster missile" last week, according to the South Korean military, which concluded that it was the same intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM ) than the one tested by Pyongyang in 2017.
North Korea announced on March 25 that it had successfully fired the country's most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-17.
This "monster missile", capable of carrying several warheads which follow an independent trajectory when they re-enter the atmosphere, was exhibited for the first time in October 2020, during a military parade in Pyongyang.
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The South Korean Defense Ministry told AFP that Seoul and Washington were able to establish that the missile fired was actually a Hwasong-15, already tested in 2017.
“US and South Korean intelligence services have concluded that what was fired on March 24 was a Hwasong-15,” a defense ministry official told AFP.
These two types of ICBMs are potentially capable of reaching the American continent.
South Korea and Japan have each confirmed that the projectile launched on March 24 flew higher and further than any other missile launched so far.
They later noted discrepancies in Pyongynag's account.
“The people of Pyongyang must have been shocked”
The dissemination of this false information was certainly an attempt by Pyongyang to thwart the failure of the March 16 projectile launch.
Analysts said the missile launched that day was the Hwasong-17, which exploded shortly after launch.
According to the specialized site NK News, based in Seoul, debris from this machine fell on or near Pyongyang while a ball of reddish smoke zigzagged in the sky.
"The people of Pyongyang must have been shocked" by this missed shot and it must have had an impact on the public's view of the regime, Ha Tae-keung, a South Korean member of the party, told the press. conservative Power to the people.
North Korean state media - Rodong Sinmun and the KCNA news agency - did not report the failure at the time, unlike they usually do within 24 hours of a shooting. .
The media bragged about the March 24 test, with KCTV airing a carefully staged video clip purporting to show the successful launch of the "monster missile".
However, analysts noted anomalies in the video, some parts of which were faked.