GONE BALLISTIC
Moment North Korea fires bizarre railway-borne missile system in latest weapons test
NORTH Korean dictator Kim Jong-un last night unveiled his country's latest missile launch system - from a train.
The rogue state announced it had tested its “railway-borne missile system” yesterday with warheads flying 497 miles before striking a target in the sea.
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Photos released by state news agency KCNA showed an olive-green missile rising on a column of smoke and flame from the roof of a train parked on tracks in a mountainous area.
Pak Jong Chon, a North Korean marshal, said: “The railway-borne missile system serves as an efficient counter-strike means capable of dealing a harsh multi-concurrent blow to the threat-posing forces.”
He added there are plans to expand the railway-borne missile regiment to a brigade-size force and to conduct training to gain “operational experience for actual war".
Adam Mount, a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, said on Twitter: “Rail mobile missiles are a relatively cheap and reliable option for countries seeking to improve the survivability of their nuclear forces.
“Russia did it. The US considered it. It makes a ton of sense for North Korea.”
It comes after Kim stoked up World War Three fears with a double ballistic missile test as South Korea fired its first sub-launched rockets.
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South Korean President Moon Jae-in attended a test firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) just hours after rival Pyongyang launched two rockets in a chilling escalation of tensions along the Korean peninsula.
Jei-in was present at an underwater SLBM test aboard the new 3,000-tonne class Dosan Ahn Chang-ho KSS submarine last month, his office said.
This makes South Korea the only country to field such weapons without nuclear warheads.
The Blue House said in a statement: "President Moon evaluated that today’s successful test produced results that would make the people feel more relieved and proud, praising the hard work of researchers and related personnel
"The possession of an SLBM has a significant meaning for the purpose of securing deterrence capabilities responding to omnidirectional threats and will play a big role in the establishment of national self-defense and peace on the Korean Peninsula in the future."
Other countries that have tested or developed SLBMs, including the US, Russia, China, Britain, France, North Korea, and India, have typically designed them to carry nuclear weapons.
Experts say this could have ground-breaking implications for , the US, and could usher in a nuclear arms race in the Koreas, according to .
Meanwhile, Pyongyang fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile off its east coast just two days after it claimed it was testing new weapons on Wednesday.
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China calls for restraint as Kim Jong-un stokes WW3 fears after missile launch sees South Korea fire rockets
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