The recent launch of a North Korean test missile into the Sea of Japan put Russia on high alert, according to CNN:
Russia responded to North Korea’s test by putting its far eastern air defenses on high alert, according to a report from the RIA-Novosti news agency.
“We cannot fail to understand that the territory of Russia is not only an object for attack but also a place where a missile may fall. In order to protect ourselves from possible incidents, we will keep our air defense systems in the Far East in a state of increased combat readiness,” Viktor Ozerov, head of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, is quoted as saying. …
The direction of the missile, so close to Russia, was likely an attempt by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to send a message to both Moscow and Beijing, said Carl Schuster, a Hawaii Pacific University professor and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center.“It tells Russia, ‘I can touch you too,'” Schuster said.
“It tells China, ‘I don’t care what you think, I’m independent,'” he said.
It seems more than a little odd to be challenging Russia and China at the same time. The Chinese in particular are not known for their tolerance of threats. Is Kim really sending a message to Russia and China, or is this possibly an internal message?
Meanwhile, John Schilling publishes an analysis on 38 North as to whether this is a new type of missile – and how this may reflect North Korean progress in the area of ICBM development:
If North Korea has already conducted a successful test using the engines and other components of the first two stages of the KN-08, it may be closer to an operational ICBM than had been previously estimated. US cities will not be at risk tomorrow, or any time this year. since some tests have to be done with the full-scale system. With only one test of this reduced-scale system Pyongyang is probably some time from even beginning that process. But given this test and the possible North Korean path forward, a closer look will be needed to see how much progress has been made, and what technologies the North may have demonstrated, as will a reassessment of their ICBM program in that new light.
