North Korea spotted a mobile launcher at Sunan Airport… Possible ICBM launch in days

If North Korea launches a new ICBM again, it will openly revoke the moratorium on nuclear and long-range ballistic missile tests promised to South Korea and the United States in April 2018.

A government official, “Sunan International Airport in North Korea detects unusual trends”

An unnamed government official said on the 13th, “The South Korean and American authorities are intensively monitoring the movement of a mobile vehicle launch pad (TEL), etc., on the runway north of Pyongyang Sunan International Airport in North Korea.” The official added, “There are variables such as the weather, but the launch of the (new ICBM) is possible at any time, and there is a possibility that it will be launched as early as this week.”

According to information released by the South Korean and US intelligence agencies on the 11th, North Korea fired a new ICBM from the taxiway connecting the southern and northern runways of Sunan International Airport on February 27 and March 5. The test launch at that time was reported to be a performance test of the first stage propellant of the new ICBM ‘Hwasong-17’.

According to News 1, the South Korean and US military authorities, who noticed a peculiar trend at Sunan International Airport, immediately strengthened surveillance and reconnaissance activities against North Korea.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command has strengthened reconnaissance and surveillance activities in the West Sea area of ​​the Korean Peninsula since the 7th. The US Air Force RS-135S Cobra Ball special reconnaissance aircraft and the US Navy P-8 maritime patrol aircraft conducted surveillance activities over the West Sea over the weekend.

North Korea’s ICBM launch breaks the moratorium on nuclear and ballistic missiles

If North Korea fires a new ICBM this time, it will be the third time that it fires a long-range ballistic missile this year alone. In other words, North Korea publicly revokes the moratorium on nuclear tests and long-range ballistic missile launches promised to the ROK and the US in April 2018.

South Korean and US intelligence officials have revealed that the two test launches were new ICBM tests. After test-firing new ICBMs on February 27th and March 5th, North Korea claimed that “all were tests for the development of reconnaissance satellites.” However, on the 11th, South Korea and the US intelligence authorities condemned North Korea by disclosing the results of a detailed analysis stating that “the propulsion performance test was conducted to measure the maximum range of the new ICBM.”

Meanwhile, US security experts predict that North Korea will launch a new ICBM soon, but not within a few days. Voice of America (VOA) reported the opinions of Bruce Klingner, Senior Researcher at the Heritage Foundation, and Evans Revere, former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. The two predicted that North Korea is highly likely to launch a new ICBM around April 15, the birthday of Kim Il-sung.