DPRK Launches Ballistic Missile after the Arrival of USS Ronald Reagan: Further Provocation with SLBMs Could Follow

Captain Goldhammer, the commanding officer of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) answers questions from the press after the carrier arrived at the ROK Navy Fleet Command in Nam-gu Busan on September 23. Joint press photographers

On September 25, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired a short-range ballistic missile. The missile was launched a month after the North fired a cruise missile last month. The latest launch is seen as a demonstration of military power in response to a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, a U.S. strategic asset, coming to South Korea and taking part in an ROK-US joint exercise at sea. The National Security Council (NSC) gathered the standing committee for an emergency meeting, over which Kim Sung-han, director of national security, presided. The government detected signs that the North may be preparing to launch a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) and is paying sharp attention for any possibility of additional provocation.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, military authorities detected movements showing that North Korea launched one short-range ballistic missile from Taechon, North Pyongan Province into the East Sea at 6:53 a.m. this morning. The DPRK launched a ballistic missile for the first time in 113 days, and only 39 days after it launched two cruise missiles last month. This was the fifth time that the North launched a missile since President Yoon Suk-yeol took office.

The missile launched this day traveled over 600 kilometers at an altitude of 60 kilometers and at speeds of Mach 5. It is believed to have been launched from a transporter erector launcher (TEL). It made an evasive maneuver in the final stage of the flight, and the missile performed “pull-up” maneuvers in some sections of the flight.

According to the specifications, the short-range ballistic missile is similar to the KN-23 called the North Korean Iskander. Reportedly, military authorities are also putting more weight on the possibility of a North Korean Iskander in their analysis of the latest launch. The intelligence agencies of South Korea and the U.S. are conducting a detailed analysis on the specifications.

A military official explained, “Based on the general activities of the DPRK recently, it seems right to see this as part of a test launch or weapons development process carried out in the long term, as an effort to strengthen military power, which Kim Jong-un ordered.” North Korea has a uranium refinery and one unit of a 200MW nuclear power plant in Taechon, North Pyongan Province, the site of the latest launch. The launch raised the possibility of nuclear activities, but the military authorities did not put much significance into the launch location.

The North’s latest missile launch is seen as a demonstration of military power in response to the deployment of a U.S. strategic asset to the Korean Peninsula. The USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, arrived in the Navy Fleet Command in Busan along with vessels from its strike group, the USS Chancellorsville (CG 62), a guided-missile cruiser and the USS Barry (DDG 52), a guided-missile destroyer on September 23. They will take part in joint drills with the South Korean Navy in the East Sea on September 26-29. However, the missile launched this day was a ground-to-ground ballistic missile and not a weapon to strike targets at sea.

Yang Jin-moo, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies said, “The North’s intention is to look into the ROK-US extended deterrence, including the deployment of a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, and prepare the path for the launch of an SLBM and a seventh nuclear test.” Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University said, “The KN-23 is a missile deployed in actual battle, so the launch seems to be intended for strategic purposes,” and added, “It appears to be a response to the deployment of a U.S. strategic asset in South Korea, which took place for the first time since 2017.” This was the first time in four years, since the Navy’s International Fleet Review held in Jeju in October 2018, that a U.S. aircraft carrier visited South Korea, and the first time in five years since October 2017 that one visited for a military drill.

The DPRK, which has insisted on a hardline versus hardline confrontation against the Republic of Korea and the U.S., may engage in further provocation while South Korea and its ally engage in joint military exercises at sea. Earlier, the military authorities detected movements suggesting that the North was preparing to launch an SLBM in Sinpo, South Hamkyong Province. The previous day, the presidential office announced that President Yoon Suk-yeol presided over a meeting to inspect the national security situation inside Air Force One on his way back from a trip to the U.K. and North America and that he received reports on signs and movements of provocation in the North.

After the Office of the President was informed of North Korea’s missile launch this day, National Security Director Kim Sung-han presided over an emergency meeting of the NSC standing committee to discuss our response.

The NSC standing committee condemned the latest launch claiming it was a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions and provocation raising tension on the Korean Peninsula. The presidential office conveyed that the committee particularly noted the fact that this was the DPRK’s first launch of a ballistic missile since it announced legislation of its nuclear armament policy, which declared the preemptive use of nuclear arms, on September 8, and decided to respond aggressively based on cooperation with the U.S. and other ally countries.

The Office of the President announced, “Participants in the meeting reaffirmed strong determination to strengthen joint defense capabilities and neutralize any form of missile provocations from the DPRK with the ROK-US joint military drills conducted at sea on September 26-29 along with the USS Ronald Reagan and vessels from its strike group.”

Shortly after the missile launch, Kim Seung-kyum, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shared information on the situation in a video conference with Paul LaCamera, commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, and reaffirmed a firm ROK-US combined defense posture, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.