North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visit an exhibition of armed equipment on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on July 27, 2023.
The Hwasong-18 has been tested twice, including on July 12 in what was the longest flight time ever for a North Korean missile test.
Russia and North Korea have recently called for closer military ties but North Korea has denied having any "arms dealings" with Russia.
The Hwasong-18 clearly takes some design inspiration from Russian missiles, in this case Topol-M and Yars, just as many other North Korean missiles do, the CNS researchers said.
"There is nothing sudden or surprising about North Korea’s continued development of large solid propellant rocket motors," they said.
Persons:
Kim Jong, Sergei Shoigu, Theodore Postol, Postol, Postol's, California's James Martin, misidentifying, Markus Schiller, Kim, Yoo Sang, Josh Smith, David Brunnstrom, Robert Birsel, Hugh Lawson
Organizations:
Russia's, North, Korean Central News Agency, KCNA, REUTERS, Rights, Washington -, Strategic, International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Korean, UN, California's James, California's James Martin Center, Nonproliferation Studies, Reuters, CSIS, Thomson
Locations:
Rights SEOUL, Washington, Russia, North Korea, Russian, Korean, RUSSIAN, Europe, Japan, Soviet Union, United States, South Korea, Ukraine, Moscow, Pyongyang, Seoul