North Korea missile program

North Korea conducted its 15th missile test this year, believed to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile.

North Korea held a military parade to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army on Monday.

North Korea tested its “new-type tactical guided weapon” a day after the birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung. Seoul apparently did not detect the launch before the North’s state media reported it.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the missile launched on March 24 was not Pyongyang’s new Hwasong-17 ICBM, but the older Hwasong-15.  

In response, the U.S. imposed new sanctions on the entities and individuals of North Korea and Russia involved in the North’s missile program. 

Days after the U.S. warned of North Korea testing its new ICBM system, South Korea’s military said the North failed to launch an unidentified projectile.

Has the Russian invasion of Ukraine changed North Korea’s strategic calculus?

The U.S. and South Korean military defined North Korea’s reconnaissance satellite tests conducted on February 27 and March 5 as a test for its new ICBM system.

Four days before the South Korean presidential election, North Korea conducted an “important” second reconnaissance satellite test – its second in a week. 

Continued missile testing by North Korea will not compel Seoul, Tokyo, or Washington to seek the negotiations Pyongyang could use to address its needs.

North Korea is not testing missiles in a bid to entice the U.S. into talks. Pyongyang is honing its missile arsenal as a goal in and of itself.