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2017.06.28
| Won | Pyongyang | Sinuiju | Hyesan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange Rate | 8,070 | 8,050 | 8,095 |
| Rice Price | 5,800 | 6,000 | 5,900 |
By April 25th, the founding day of the Chosun People’s Army, approximately two weeks will have passed since intelligence estimates emerged suggesting that North Korea had fuelled two “Musudan” medium-range missiles and moved them to locations on the country’s east coast. Two weeks is the upper limit for a missile of this type to remain fuelled, it was claimed; any longer and the missiles would begin to corrode from the inside.
However, a North Korean military source reported a different view to Daily NK on the 19th. He explained, “There’ll be no problem launching the missiles at any point in the two months after injecting them with fuel, oxidizer and ignition agent. In the end, it is the injection of the final ignition agent that decides the timing of the launch.”
The main fuel for the Musudan missile is a colorless liquid fuel called UDMH (Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine). On the widely reported claim that if a missile were fuelled with the fuel at room temperature then it would only remain in launch condition for up to two weeks, the North Korean military source claimed, “That analysis is by people who don’t exactly know about liquid fuel for medium- and long-range missiles.”
According to the source, if North Korea has injected the missiles with fuel and does not opt to remove and then later re-inject it, then they could be launched up to the end of this month or the beginning of May.
The source also explained, “Fuel for the launch is injected at the missile’s home base, then the missile is moved to its launch station before the final ignition agent is added as a final step. If that agent is in the missile for more than 30 minutes then it rapidly becomes ineffective, so it is only added right before launch.”
“The oxidizer and ignition agent are transported in 10t Russian trucks known as ‘Urals’. The fact that right now they are not being transported with the missiles means that either they have already been fuelled, or they are attempting to hoodwink the South Korean side,” the source added, noting that the missiles themselves are transported on Russian-made ‘Maz’ trucks.
Commenting on the North Korean military analysis, the director of SIGK’s ‘Nuclear Strategy Research Center,’ Sin Sung Taek commented, “We know that the intrinsic chemical makeup of the Musudan main fuel does not change even if the missile is not launched for a significant period of time. The reason why they move them unfuelled is because there is the danger of explosion.” According to Sin, the existence of that risk means that there is a chance that the missiles have not yet been fuelled.
Sin added, “We don’t know for sure whether the missiles have been fuelled or not; however, the North has had no experience launching this particular missile so if they do launch it, there is also the possibility of failure.”
North Korea’s short, medium and long-range missiles are known as ‘Hwaseong’ and, at the time of writing, 12 different missiles have been developed. The ‘Musudan’ missile, which was first unveiled at last April’s military parade in Pyongyang for the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, was the ‘Hwaseong-11,’ according to the source.
However, a North Korean military source reported a different view to Daily NK on the 19th. He explained, “There’ll be no problem launching the missiles at any point in the two months after injecting them with fuel, oxidizer and ignition agent. In the end, it is the injection of the final ignition agent that decides the timing of the launch.”
The main fuel for the Musudan missile is a colorless liquid fuel called UDMH (Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine). On the widely reported claim that if a missile were fuelled with the fuel at room temperature then it would only remain in launch condition for up to two weeks, the North Korean military source claimed, “That analysis is by people who don’t exactly know about liquid fuel for medium- and long-range missiles.”
According to the source, if North Korea has injected the missiles with fuel and does not opt to remove and then later re-inject it, then they could be launched up to the end of this month or the beginning of May.
The source also explained, “Fuel for the launch is injected at the missile’s home base, then the missile is moved to its launch station before the final ignition agent is added as a final step. If that agent is in the missile for more than 30 minutes then it rapidly becomes ineffective, so it is only added right before launch.”
“The oxidizer and ignition agent are transported in 10t Russian trucks known as ‘Urals’. The fact that right now they are not being transported with the missiles means that either they have already been fuelled, or they are attempting to hoodwink the South Korean side,” the source added, noting that the missiles themselves are transported on Russian-made ‘Maz’ trucks.
Commenting on the North Korean military analysis, the director of SIGK’s ‘Nuclear Strategy Research Center,’ Sin Sung Taek commented, “We know that the intrinsic chemical makeup of the Musudan main fuel does not change even if the missile is not launched for a significant period of time. The reason why they move them unfuelled is because there is the danger of explosion.” According to Sin, the existence of that risk means that there is a chance that the missiles have not yet been fuelled.
Sin added, “We don’t know for sure whether the missiles have been fuelled or not; however, the North has had no experience launching this particular missile so if they do launch it, there is also the possibility of failure.”
North Korea’s short, medium and long-range missiles are known as ‘Hwaseong’ and, at the time of writing, 12 different missiles have been developed. The ‘Musudan’ missile, which was first unveiled at last April’s military parade in Pyongyang for the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, was the ‘Hwaseong-11,’ according to the source.
