Did North Korea’s missile test fall FLAT? Video footage shows rocket breaking up
NORTH Korea’s dream of having a long-range nuclear-tipped missile could still be some way off as video footage appears to show the rocket breaking up before landing.
NHK World reports on 'failed' North Korean missile launch
Leader Kim Jong-un’s aim of developing an Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) could be a long way off as Pyongyang would seem not to have yet fully mastered the technology necessary to operate a nuclear missile.
The North Korean leader claimed after the latest test that the reclusive country could make a nuclear attack on America “in any place, any time” but now that has been thrown into some doubt.
Michael Ellemen, a missile expert with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said videos taken by a weather camera in Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture showed the re-entry of the rocket shedding small radiant objects at an altitude of around 2.5-3 miles before dimming and then disappearing.
Video footage appears to show North Korea's rocket breaking up before landing
Mr Ellemen said: "Had the RV survived the rigours of re-entry, it would have continued to glow. A reasonable conclusion based on the video evidence is that the… re-entry vehicle did not survive.”
However he warned that further tests could still allow North Korea to deploy an operational ICBM as early as next year.
North Korea said on Saturday its second ICBM test, which followed its first on July 4, had proven its ability to strike the whole of the US mainland.
Some US-based experts said last week's launch showed the missile could have been capable of going as far into the United States as Denver and Chicago, with New York and Washington just out of range.
However, John Schilling, another missile expert and 38 North contributor, said last week the improved performance over the July 4 test could have been the result of using a lighter payload to improve its range.
Mr Elleman said the size of the payload was crucial to range and a lighter payload could mean a more fragile re-entry vehicle less able to withstand re-entry.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R) celebrates the launch of the latest missile
He estimated the current missile was probably capable of carrying a 500 kg bomb of similar power to those used at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War Two as far as the US West Coast.
US President Donald Trump hit back at the reclusive state saying that the US “will handle North Korea”.
North Korea launched its latest ICBM test missile on Friday
Mr Trump also hit out at China over the weekend after the missile launch.
He wrote: “I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk.
“We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!”