Rome, 30 March 2022 – Kim Jong-un tried, but his bluff was revealed by the South Korean Ministry of Defense: the missile successfully launched on March 24 it was not the brand new Hwasong-17, nicknamed the “monstrous” but more reliable Hwasong-15.
The leader of Pyongyang, perhaps fearing the previous failure (on March 16) or under pressure to approach the 110th anniversary of his grandfather’s birth Kim Il-sung (Founder of the state), he would have decided not to risk it. So sunglasses, black leather jacket as a true top gun, Kim Jong-un attended the launch, and had himself portrayed walking in front of the immense ICBM, perhaps really the brand new Hwasong-17.
But according to the South Korean Ministry of Defense, the one launched into the Sea of Japan was not the “monstrous”. Rather, it would have been the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile, already tested in 2017 (and in any case formidable because it is considered capable of mounting and transporting a nuclear warhead throughout the United States). According to Seoul intelligence, a similar test failed on March 16: the carrier exploded immediately after take-off, and it is suspected that it was the brand new Hwasong-17.
The launch instead on March 24 it was a success, the missile flew for 71 minutes and fell into the Rising Sun’s exclusive economic zone, unleashing Tokyo’s wrath. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida defined it as “scandalous and unforgivable”. And to the immediate condemnation of Seoul and Tokyo, was added that of Washington.
Upon launch, the South Korean army jumped to attention, immediately flexing its muscles with military exercises and the use of land, air and sea missiles in an area around the Eastern Sea. Then today the Seoul Ministry of Defense, after studying the data and footage of Kim Jong-un’s missile flight, unveiled the trick of the missile swap. According to experts, Kim Jong-un is intensifying the tests in view of the celebrations April 15 for the 110th birthday of the birth of Kim Il-sung, founder of the state and grandfather of Kim.