North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks at a ceremony in Pyongyang marking the deployment of what he described as a “new type of tactical missile launcher.” This photo was published by the regime’s state-controlled media on August 5. (YONHAP)
South Korean intelligence believes the range of the North’s newest missile launch sites could extend to the central Chungcheong region, but expressed doubts that the regime would be able to supply all the launch sites with missiles, lawmakers said on Monday.
“Even though North Korea has 250 launch pads, as reported by state media, we have doubts whether the regime can supply it with enough missiles,” the National Intelligence Service told members of the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee. This was stated by MPs Lee Seong-kweun of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) and Park Sun-won of the liberal Democratic Party (DP).
The lawmakers said intelligence believes the North is producing missiles and other weapons systems to supply Russia and that the regime “may have difficulty supplying its (own) launchers.”
The state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang reported on August 5 that regime leader Kim Jong-un attended a ceremony to celebrate the deployment of 250 transport assembly devices (TEL) to the front lines. He described the devices as a “new type of tactical missile launcher.”
According to KCNA, each TEL can fire four missiles simultaneously.
The intelligence agency told lawmakers that the missiles fired from rocket launchers positioned along the border could likely travel about 110 kilometers, putting the Chungcheong provinces south of Seoul within range.
According to Park, the NIS expressed concern “about the possibility that 250 TELs could soon be deployed along the (inter-Korean) border” and acknowledged that the South could potentially face “renewed pressure regarding its defense posture.”
The intelligence agency also said that Jagang province “suffered the greatest material damage” in recent floods along the Yalu River, but Kim likely visited neighboring North Pyongan province to avoid drawing attention to the military facilities concentrated in Jagang.
The DP MP added that the NIS believes Kim visited North Pyongyang Province and invited its residents to Pyongyang to “build confidence in the regime.”
Although South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called on Pyongyang to hold talks with Seoul in his Liberation Day speech on August 15, his proposal for a working group made up of politicians from both Koreas was met with silence in the North.
Pyongyang has also not responded to the recent offer of flood relief from Seoul’s Unification Ministry.
In contrast, North Korean media reported on August 16 that regime leader Kim Jong-un responded to a congratulatory message from Russian President Vladimir Putin on the 79th anniversary of the end of Japan’s colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula.
According to KCNA, Putin promised to continue implementing the strategic partnership agreement signed with Kim in June, which includes a mutual defense clause.
In his response, Kim said, according to KCNA, that the North and Russia had “forged and deepened” their relations through joint struggle against common enemies and that both countries would develop into “powerful states” in a “new multipolar world.”
The NIS also told parliamentarians that Moscow had offered to send relief supplies for the flood disaster, to which Kim expressed his gratitude.
BY MICHAEL LEE ([email protected])
