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North Korea Test-Launches Indicate Progress in Missile Development, U.S. General Says
A top U.S. military commander said yesterday that two missiles test-fired this week by North Korea were upgraded, solid-fuel versions of a short-range North Korean missile, Kyodo News Service reported today (see GSN, March 9). Gen. Burwell Bell, commander of U.S. forces in South Korea, told the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee yesterday that the missiles represented a “quantum leap” in performance, compared with rockets Pyongyang has tested previously. Bell said earlier this week that Pyongyang has more than 600 short-range missiles that can deliver conventional or chemical munitions anywhere on the Korean Peninsula. He also said North Korea has up to 200 ballistic missiles with a range of 1,300 kilometers capable of reaching Japan with the same payloads, according to Kyodo (Kyodo News Service, March 10). Bell also told the committee that Chinese-North Korean shared military exercises are rare and that there are no indications of major weapons transfers between the two allies, Yonhap News Agency reported yesterday. Although critics have accused Beijing of not doing enough to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear programs, Bell said it does appear to be making efforts. “I think at this point this represents good-faith effort to keep a lid on North Korean expansionism, proliferation etc.,” he said (Lee Dong-min, Yonhap News Agency, March 9).
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