The new commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), Gen. B.B. Bell, recently briefed the Senate Armed Services Committee on developments with North Korea’s ballistic missile program (Reuters):

North Korea is set to deploy ballistic missiles that could reach Alaska and remains a global security threat despite its failing economy. . . “Reports indicate North Korea is also preparing to field a new intermediate range ballistic missile which could easily reach United States facilities in Okinawa, Guam, and possibly Alaska . . .”

North Korea is working on a three-stage version of its long-range Taepo Dong missile, which could be operational in the next decade and would enable the country “to directly target the continental United States,” Bell said.

The Chosun Ilbo has a related article:

A high ranking government source said Tuesday that, “North Korea is in the middle of building two underground missile sites in Yangdok County, South Pyongan Province and Sangnam-ni, Hochon County, North Hamgyeong Province. Construction is about 70 to 80 percent complete . . . In particular, U.S. spy satellites have discovered about 10 of the newly designed IRBMs and mobile launchers at the two sites between last year and the beginning of this year… We presume these bases to be for a new kind of ballistic missile, not Rodong 1’s or Scud’s. . .” (emphasis added)

The new missile, unlike the Taepodong 1 that is launched from a fixed site, is loaded onto a mobile missile launch vehicle. It is, therefore, highly mobile.

Yonhap downplayed Gen. Bell’s message with a short, two paragraph article that does not appear to be contextually consistent with the overall message from the general:

But what used to be an active program in the communist nation to develop inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) appears to have tapered off over the last several years. . . [said Gen. Bell].

The three-stage Taepodong under development Gen. Bell refers of is the Taepodong-2 (an ICBM, a.k.a. Nodong 4 and NKSL-X-2). The Taepodong-1 (an MRBM) was the two-stage type lobbed over Japan on 31 August 1998.

It is not surprising that North Korea continues to develop mobile missile launch capabilities; in the event of a conflict, fixed sites are likely to be destroyed quickly, while transporter erector launchers (TEL) have the advantage of being hidden almost anywhere.

It is perhaps more likely that North Korea would launch a missile attach on the U.S. with ship-based ballistic missiles than from either fixed missile facilities or mobile TEL in North Korea, as it would instantly obvious if the attach came from the Korean Peninsula.

Ballistic and Cruise Missiles Overview

Ballistic missiles (BM) differ from cruise missiles (CM) in that they are basically rockets, with one or more stages, that typically attain a high altitude before descending on the target. Generally inertial guidance systems are employed, and although the course can be adjusted somewhat during flight, significant changes cannot be made. BM are categorized by maximum range as SRMB, MRBM, IRBM, and ICBM (see table below). BM have a reentry vehicle (RV) that carries a conventional or nuclear warhead, and some BM have multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV), that carry up to ten warheads. They use either solid or liquid propellant (hybrid propellants are for the most part experimental at this point), and different stages may use different propellants.

Cruise missiles are usually propelled by small jet engines and are comparable to unmanned aircraft. They are categorized by mission and launch mode, and most are classified as land-attack cruise missiles (LACM) and anti-ship (or sub) cruise missiles (ASCM). The flight path of a CM is mostly level, as opposed to the arched trajectory of a BM, and it flies to a pre-determined target with a much greater degree of accuracy than BM. CM use an inertial navigation system and may be further guided by a radar-based systems, including but not limited to the Global Positioning System (GPS), and the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS).

North Korea’s Missiles (info from GlobalSecurity.Org)

Information on DPRK missiles is generally incomplete and inconsistent. North Korea has made many modifications to missiles and missiles designs acquired from the former Soviet Union, making accurate stage and range assessments difficult.

Designation	Stages	Engine	Range	Category	Comment
KN-01	1	turbojet	110 km	ASCM	SS-N-1 Styx
KN-2	1	solid	110 km	SRBM	SS-21 Scarab
Hwasong 5 / Scud-B	1	liquid	300-330 km	SRBM
Hwasong 6 / Scud-C	1	liquid	500 km	SRBM	Scud-C
No-dong-1, 2	1	liquid	1,300 km	MRBM	SS-N-5
No-dong-B	1	liquid	2750 - 4000 km	IRBM	SS-N-6
Taep’o-dong-1	2	liquid	2000 - 2900 km	IRBM	[Nodong 3]
Taep’o-dong-2	2	liquid	3750 - 15,000 km	ICBM	[Nodong 4]

Missile Resources

GlobalSecurity.Org: North Korea Special Weapons - WMD
GlobalSecurity.Org: Missile Proliferation Summary
FAS: North Korea Special Weapons - Missiles
FAS: Ballistic Missiles
CNS: North Korean Cruise Missile Tests–and Iraqi Cruise Missile Attacks–Raise Troubling Questions for Missile Defenses
CDI: North Korea’s Missile Flight Tests
NTI: North Korea Profile - Missile Overview
Arms Control: Worldwide Ballistic Missile Inventories
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