NORTH KOREA: A railway-borne missile regiment has conducted a test launch to confirm the practicality of firing a missile from a train and to assess the combat readiness and capability of the newly-formed unit.
The regiment deployed to the central mountainous area of the country at dawn on September 15, tasked with striking a target area 800 km away; this would put all of South Korea and part of Japan within range.
On September 16 the official Korean Central News Agency reported ‘the regiment finished rapid movement and deployment according to the norm of the operation and action procedures of the railway-borne missile system, and accurately struck the target in the East Sea of Korea’.
The test was overseen by Pak Jong Chon, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau and Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea.
He said the railway-borne missiles offered ‘an efficient counter-strike means capable of dealing a harsh multi-concurrent blow to the threat-posing forces through separate performances of firepower duty in different parts of the country’.
Pak called on the army to prepare tactical plans for deployment and to acquire the operational experience which would be needed in the event of a war. It should also plan for expansion of the unit into a railway-borne missile brigade at an early date.
