N. Korea years from reliable missiles despite launch

After 14 years of painstaking labour, North Korea finally has a rocket that can put a satellite into orbit. But that doesn’t mean the reclusive country is close to having an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Experts say Pyongyang is years from even having a shot at developing reliable missiles that could bombard the U.S. mainland and other distant targets, though it did gain attention and the outrage of world leaders Wednesday with its first successful launch of a three-stage, long-range rocket.

A missile program is built on decades of systematic, intricate testing, something extremely difficult for economically struggling Pyongyang, which faces guaranteed sanctions and world disapproval each time it stages an expensive launch. North Korea will need larger and more dependable missiles, and more advanced nuclear weapons, to threaten U.S. shores, though it already poses a threat to its neighbours.

“One success indicates progress, but not victory, and there is a huge gap between being able to make a system work once and having a system that is reliable enough to be militarily useful,” said Brian Weeden, a former U.S. air force Space Command officer and a technical adviser to the Secure World Foundation, a think-tank on space policy.

North Korea’s satellite launch came only after repeated failures and hundreds of millions of dollars. It is an achievement for young authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un, whose late father and predecessor, Kim Jong-il, made development of missiles and nuclear weapons a priority despite his nation’s poverty.

Kim said the achievement “further consolidated” the country’s status “as a space power,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday. It added that Kim “stressed the need to continue to launch satellites in the future.”

Kim visited the command centre, gave the final written launch order and “keenly observed the whole process of the launch” Wednesday, KCNA reported. It said the satellite entered into its orbit nine minutes and 27 seconds after the launch.

South Korea’s Defence Ministry said Thursday the satellite was orbiting normally at a speed of 7.6 kilometres per second. North Korean officials say the satellite will study crops and weather patterns.