North Korea’s launch of three ballistic missiles on Wednesday included one that flew on an unusual trajectory, officials said. The rocket had a flight path that two employees described as a “double arc”, with the rocket ascending and then descending twice.
The trajectory may indicate that the goal was to test North Korea’s ability to launch a missile and re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere to reach its destination, according to two officials.
The second phase of the possible “double arc” of the rocket may have been a re-entry vehicle detached from the main rocket. It is not yet clear to the United States whether all of this is part of the planned flight, an official said.
The assessment of the American intelligence for all three test launches is still in preliminary stages, the officials emphasized.
The missile tests followed US President Joe Biden’s trip to the region, which included a stop in South Korea.
It is unclear which of the three missiles fired had the unusual flight pattern. Japan has publicly hinted that one of the missiles flew in an unusual way, with Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi calling it an “incorrect trajectory.”
South Korea said an alleged Balkan interim missile was fired at about 6 a.m. local time on Wednesday, with a range of about 360 kilometers (223 miles) and an altitude of about 540 kilometers (335 miles).
At around 6:37 a.m. local time on Wednesday, North Korea fired a second ballistic missile – not believed to be the ICBM – that appears to have disappeared from South Korean tracking at an altitude of 20 kilometers (12 miles), South Korea said. A preliminary assessment showed that the missile may have flown over a town in North Korea.
The third missile, believed to be a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), flew about 760 kilometers (472 miles) and had a height of 60 kilometers (37 miles), according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield confirmed that one missile had intercontinental range in a statement: “The DPRK’s launch of three ballistic missiles on May 25 includes another launch of an intermediate ballistic missile. The United States estimates that this is the DPRK’s sixth launch from the DPRK since its inception in 2022. “She warned that the regime has fired 23 ballistic missiles since the beginning of the year and is” actively preparing for a nuclear test. “
The trio of one-hour launches comes amid fears that North Korea is preparing for its first underground nuclear test in 2017. On Wednesday, South Korea found signs that North Korea was testing a detonation device for a nuclear test that could to be the forerunner of an actual test, a South Korean official told reporters on Wednesday.
After the launches, Defense Minister Lloyd Austin held a defensive conversation with South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jeong-sup, “to discuss assessments and response measures to the recent ballistic missile launches of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).”
The latest launches mark the 16th time North Korea has tested its missiles this year, including what the United States considers a failed ICBM test on May 4, which erupted shortly after the launch.
But North Korea is believed to have tested ICBM in late March.
The rocket took off at an altitude of 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles) and a distance of 1,080 kilometers (671 miles) with a flight time of 71 minutes before exploding in the waters off the west coast of Japan, according to the Japanese Ministry of Defense.
CNN’s Gavon Bae contributed to this report.
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