Analysis: Pyongyang projected to continue further strategic weapon tests

North Korea’s failed 31 May launch of what was probably a Musudan-type intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is unlikely to dent North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s continued pursuit of a nuclear strategic capability.

Musudan misile

The flurry of missile tests leading up to the first Worker’s Party of Korea (WPK) party congress in 36 years from 6-9 May “were all about Kim Jong-un consolidating the position as his father’s successor, demonstrating more to a domestic audience among the North Korean elites that he is the man in charge than to the outside world”, an Asia-based North Korea analyst told IHS Jane’s . “It was a coronation more than it was any kind of an event to signal a change in policy.”
IHS Jane’s 360: IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly – Digital, Online and Print Magazine

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