Newly designed missiles by North Korea to fly farther, could be launched from protective canisters

Tokyo, Seoul/ August 24: North Korea has designed one or possibly two new missiles, says media reports. Illustrations of the missile were seen hanging on a wall behind leader Kim Jong Un when he visited a plant that manufactures solid-fuel engines for the country’s ballistic-missile programme.

One among the photos clearly depicted diagram of a missile called ‘Pukguksong-3’, which is considered to be the latest in its Pukguksong or Polaris, series. The other was harder to recognise, even though it carried designation name ‘Hwasong’ or Mars.

The photos got published in Rodong Sinmun, newspaper of the ruling party’s newspaper, which was further circulated by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The news came two days after the US and South Korea had begun annual military exercises which North claims to be a rehearsal for war.

According to media reports, the missile is designed to fly farther and to be launched from protective canisters. This allow missiles to get transported more easily and it also makes them more difficult to locate and destroy in advance. It could probably boost the North’s submarine-launched missile capabilities.