Seoul Says North Korea Likely Launched Hwasong-15 Missile On March 24

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published March 29, 2022 | 03:12 PM

North Korea presumably launched the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on March 24, not the brand-new Hwasong-17 as was claimed by Pyongyang, the South Korean Defense Ministry said on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th March, 2022) North Korea presumably launched the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on March 24, not the brand-new Hwasong-17 as was claimed by Pyongyang, the South Korean Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

"Although the projectile fired on March 24 looks like the Hwasong-17 due to the increase in its top altitude and flight time, our assessment is that it is more similar to the Hwasong-15 than the Hwasong-17," the ministry said, as quoted by the South Korean Yonhap news agency.

The statement also pointed out that North Korea's footage shows the shadows indicating that the video was filmed in the morning in clear weather, while in fact it was taken in the afternoon, and the weather conditions were cloudy at the time of the missile test.

Also, the defense ministry added that it would be a difficult task to conduct a successful missile test following the failed one carried out eight days earlier.

Last Thursday, North Korea conducted its twelfth missile launch since the beginning of the year, later confirming that it was the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile. The Japanese Defense Ministry claimed that with a normal trajectory, the missile could travel a range of 15,000 kilometers (9,320 miles), which is enough to cover the entirety of the US. South Korea retaliated by launching a series of ballistic and cruise missiles toward the Sea of Japan.