You insisted on the "final final version."North Korea provokes ICBM again?

[Anchor]
North Korea, which recently resumed provocations with hypersonic missiles, is expected to soon carry out intercontinental ballistic missiles and ICBM provocations.It has been more than two months since he claimed that he succeeded in test-firing the ICBM of

'final final version', and he pointed out what North Korea is aiming for.

I'm reporter Lee Jong Won.

[Reporter]
North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile and ICBM Hwasung-19 in late October last year, just before the U.S. presidential election, and claimed it was the "final final round."

Both the maximum peak altitude and flight time have reached all-time highs, and they have touted it as a representative weapon system to operate with the existing Hwasong-18 type.

With a range that can strike the U.S. mainland already secured, there has been a series of analyses that show off the destructive power added to the ability to mount multiple warheads.

[Chosun Central Television (November 1st last year): The final finished intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-19 weapon system defends the Democratic People's Republic of Korea....]

At the time, he praised himself as a "completed type," but it has been reported that the South Korean military has recently detected additional situations in Pyongyang operating mobile launchers that appear to be for ICBM launches.

Following the hypersonic missile provocation earlier this year, it seems to be for pressure on the U.S. before and after Trump's inauguration, as there were observations that it could also launch additional ICBM provocations.

The intention is to show the "hardest response strategy to the U.S." at the end of the year's party conference with actions and to put pressure on the second Trump administration in earnest.

There is also an analysis that it may be aimed at testing the "atmospheric re-entry" technology militarily.

It is a technology that makes it withstand a high temperature of more than 7,000 degrees when a projectile warhead fired at a normal angle enters the atmosphere again, and has been consistently mentioned as a key military technology that North Korea can take as a counter benefit to Russia's dispatch.

Until now, North Korea's ICBM launches have all been in the form of high angles, so it is generally unclear whether it has secured the re-entry technology, which is the final stage of ICBM.

[Cho Han-beom/senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification: ICBM normal angle firing and ballistic re-entry tests must be conducted to secure additional attack capabilities against the U.S., and this is not a matter of one or two.]

However, experts predict that even if North Korea launches ICBM normal angle provocations, it does not have long-range measurement capabilities, and that it will be limited in using the test results as data.

I'm YTN's Lee Jong Won.