North Korea planning "high-level" nuclear test

North Korea planning "high-level" nuclear test

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North Korea is warning that it is prepared to conduct a nuclear test and carry out more long-range rocket launches.

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wow.

In a statement carried Thursday by state media, the National Defense Commission in Pyongyang threatened to wage a "full-fledged confrontation" against the U.S. for what it calls continued hostility

The declaration follows the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of North Korea on Tuesday and expanded sanctions against the regime for launching a rocket in December. North Korea said the launch was a peaceful satellite mission, but the U.S. and others say it was actually a test of long-range missile technology

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North Korea’s missile capabilities

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to adopt a resolution condemning a North Korean rocket launch as violating a ban on missile activity. But experts say Pyongyang is years away from developing reliable missiles that could bombard the American mainland. A look at North Korea’s missile arsenal

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Development

Scud

up to 500 miles (800 km)

Single stage, liquid-fueled missiles. Accuracy is reportedly considered extremely poor. Ballistic missile programs in Pakistan and Iran were built on Scud technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Theodore Postol wrote in 2009. Some versions of this missile are also called Hwasong in North Korea.


Rodong

1,300 kilometers (800 miles)

U.S. bases in Japan are the likely target of this medium-range missile, according to Seoul’s Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security. Rodong is closely related to Iran’s Shahab-3 and Pakistan’s Ghauri II (Hatf V), according to the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. The similarity is considered strong evidence of the countries’ collaboration, and of North Korean sale of technology and missile equipment to others. The North Korean name for the missile is Hwasong.

Musudan

Up to 1,800 miles (3,000 km)

North Korea has deployed this intermediate range ballistic missile since 2007, according to South Korea’s Defense Ministry. Unveiled in 2010, is believed to have used Russian SS-N-6 submarine-launched ballistic missile technology for the mobile, land-based missile, according to the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. It reportedly is liquid-fueled with one or two stages. Accuracy is unknown.


Taepodong-1

1,550 miles (2,500 km)

North Korea launched the Paektusan in 1998 and claimed to have successfully placed a satellite into orbit, but South Korean and U.S. officials say the launch ended in failure. Still, the launch shocked the world because it went well beyond North Korea’s known capability at the time. Both lower stages are liquid-fueled, with a potential solid-fuel third stage, according to the Federation of American Scientists. Accuracy is reportedly poor, with no meaningful strike capability. North Korea calls its model the Paektusan-1, a carrier rocket named after the highest mountain on the Korean Peninsula, Mount Paektu.


Taepodong-2

4,100 miles (6,700 km)

A three-stage rocket, the first two stages are liquid-fueled, while the third is believed to be solid-fueled, according to FAS. Iranian engineers reportedly observed a secret 2006 launch that the U.S. and South Korea say fizzled soon after liftoff; North Korea has never acknowledged the launch. U.S. officials say North Korea’s cooperation with Iran is extensive. Iran’s Safir space launch vehicle is based on the same North Korean ballistic technology used for the Taepodong, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Theodore Postol wrote in 2009.


Advanced Taepodong-2

6,200 miles (10,000 km)

Experts in the U.S. and South Korea have dubbed the missile version of the Unha rocket that North Korea launched on Wednesday an “advanced” Taepodong-2. However, experts question whether North Korea has mastered the technology needed to shrink and mount a nuclear warhead on the missile.

editby]edit on 23-1-2013 by goou111 because: (no reason given)