North Korea Continues to Fire Multiple Cruise Missiles into the West Sea

Appears to have been fired from inland near Pyongyang…range estimated at 1500-2000 km

North Korea launched several cruise missiles into the West Sea on the 30th, according to the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

The ROK JCS stated, “We detected several unidentified cruise missiles that North Korea launched into the West Sea around 7 a.m. today. The South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are analyzing the details. Our military has strengthened surveillance and security while closely cooperating with the U.S. and we are closely monitoring North Korea’s activities.”

This is the second time in two days that North Korea has launched cruise missiles, following the launch on the 28th.

This is the third time this month that the ROK JCS has detected and announced North Korea’s cruise missile launches.

On the 24th, North Korea test-launched its new strategic cruise missile ‘Bulhwasal-3-31’ for the first time into the West Sea from near Pyongyang, and on the 28th, it launched two more Bulhwasal-3-31 missiles from the sea near Sinpo, Hamgyongnam-do.

The cruise missiles launched by North Korea today are also presumed to be Bulhwasal-3-31. The military authorities are focusing on the possibility that they were launched from inland near Pyongyang.

The ROK JCS speculated that the purpose of North Korea’s concentrated test-launching of cruise missiles in a short period is to improve the performance of the new strategic cruise missile.

Bulhwasal-3-31 is evaluated as an improved version of the existing strategic cruise missile ‘Hwasal-1·2′. The ’31’ attached to the name implies that it can be equipped with the ‘Volcano-31’ tactical nuclear warhead that North Korea revealed last year.

North Korea is test-launching Bulhwasal-3-31 using various launch platforms on land and at sea.

Choi Il, the head of the Submarine Research Institute, analyzed the Bulhwasal-3-31 model, saying, “It appears to be usable on land, surface ships, and submarines,” and “It seems to mimic Russia’s multi-purpose cruise missile (Kallibr).”

The range of Bulhwasal-3-31 is estimated to be up to 2,000 km.

A ROK JCS official explained today’s flight time and range of the launched Bulhwasal-3-31, saying, “It flew the normal range as claimed by North Korea.” “The normal range of Hwasal-1 is estimated to be 1,500 km, and Hwasal-2 is estimated to be 2,000 km.”

This official added, “The flight time of the cruise missile launched today was longer than that of the cruise missile launched on the 28th, so we judged that it flew the normal range.”

By. WikiTree