New North Korean Rocket Launcher Takes Aim at Seoul with Enhanced Accuracy
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North Korean military authorities have claimed success in developing a new 240mm multiple rocket launcher (multiple rocket launcher) with guided capabilities targeted at Seoul.
It is interpreted as an effort to improve the existing rocket range to precisely strike the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area and increase Russian arms exports. This is the first time North Korea has announced the successful test of a 240mm guided rocket.
According to the Korean Central News Agency, the National Defense Science Institute conducted a firing test of a 240mm guided multiple rocket launcher on the previous day (11th) to evaluate its accuracy. The National Defense Science Institute of North Korea is a weapons system development agency similar to the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) in South Korea, known to be established in December of last year.
Our military authorities also detected the circumstances of a 240mm rocket launcher test launch near Nampo in Pyongan Province the previous day. Still, they did not disclose it as it was not a ballistic missile provocation. Some shells did not reach the usual 240mm rocket launcher range of 24.85 miles. Related to this, a military source said, “It is difficult and costly for a rocket launcher with a short flight time to have GPS guidance capabilities. The guided rocket launcher may have wings to adjust the direction.”
Shin Jong-woo, a senior research fellow at the Korea Defense Security Forum, also said, “If it has guidance capabilities, its accuracy is enhanced,” and “If there is no guidance capability, the target can be missed due to weather influence.”
The maximum range of the existing 240mm guided rocket without guidance capability is known to be around 60km. The new 240mm rocket launcher has an effective range of over 43.5 miles and a maximum range of over 62.14 miles.
Some argue that North Korea’s diversification of its weapons system can be seen as an attempt to neutralize the Korean-style 3-axis system. North Korea, including the North Korean cruise missile provocation on the 2nd, is securing weapons operations in various ways, including KN-23 (Iskander), KN-24 (North Korean version of Ataikus), KN-25 (super-large rocket launcher).
According to the “2022 Defense White Paper” published last year by the Ministry of National Defense, North Korea owned around 5500 multiple rocket launchers, such as 122mm, 240mm, 300mm, and 600mm. It positioned 170mm self-propelled artillery in the front line, intended to increase military tension by targeting a distance of less than 31.07 miles from the front line of Panmunjom to Yongsan-gu, Seoul. This 240mm rocket launcher is also one of the weapons systems targeting Seoul and the metropolitan area, and there is a precedent for its use in the Yeonpyeong Island shelling in 2010.
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