North Korea Shows Space Photos From Missile Launch

A day after North Korea test-fired its Hwasong 12-type intermediate and long-range ballistic missile, it revealed exoatmospheric photos of the launch taken from space showing the Korean peninsula region, state media reported.

- Arpan Rai

The earth image data was taken from space by a camera installed on the Hwasong 12-type missile warhead, KCNA reported, adding that the camera mounted on the missile helped them confirm the operation’s accuracy, security and effectiveness.

Offiials said the test-fire of Hwasong-12 was “aimed to selectively evaluate the missile being produced and deployed and to verify the overall accuracy of the weapon system”, reported KCNA.

Sunday’s ballistic missile launch of the country’s longest-range weapon was its biggest show of military capability since 2017, a likely attempt to suggest it is ready to resume testing nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

This is the seventh missile launch from North Korean soil in January alone this year. While North Korean leader Kim Jong-un remained absent from this launch, it was conducted under the country’s academy of defence science, the second economy commission and other institutions on Sunday.