Multiple-rocket launcher used in missile test
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea used a multiple-rocket launcher off its east coast on Saturday to fire three short-range missiles that could strike U.S. military bases deep in South Korea, officials in Seoul said.
The launches were the North’s first rocket tests since two intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBM, were fired last month. By resuming the tests, North Korea defied repeated urgings from the United States and South Korea to stop weapons trials and other provocations to pave the way for dialogue.
The U.S. Pacific Command said that one of the three short-range missiles had blown up immediately after blastoff, but that two others had traveled about 155 miles before splashing down.
That would be far enough to reach major South Korean and American military bases, including those near the city of Pyeongtaek, about 60 miles south of Seoul. The range would also be sufficient to reach Seongju, a South Korean town where the United States has begun installing an advanced missile-defense system known as THAAD.
The North has often tested missiles with similar scope, but the use of a multiple-tube launcher shows an advance in capability.
The Pacific Command previously said that two of the North Korean missiles had “failed in flight.” But that assessment was later retracted, and the amended view agreed with the South Korean military’s evaluation of the distance the projectiles had traveled.
The missiles were 300-millimeter rockets, said Yoon Young-chan, a spokesman at the Blue House, South Korea’s presidential office, where the country’s National Security Council met on Saturday to discuss the tests. It was not clear, however, whether the three missiles were fired from a single device or more than one.
North Korea has alarmed South Korean defense officials before with tests of its 300-millimeter rockets and displays of an eight-tube version of the system during military parades. North has developed the multiple-tube launchers because they are cheaper than short-range, Scud-type ballistic missiles and because they enable more projectiles to be fired.