North Korea appears to have submarine launch capability and test-fired a ballistic missile Wednesday, perhaps as a bargaining chip ahead of the resumption of nuclear talks with the U.S.
According to South Korea’s military “the missile was fired from waters off the peninsula’s east coast near the port city of Wonsan, and traveled about 280 miles to the east before landing in the Sea of Japan.”
Here’s what a surprise nuclear launch looks like to a pilot, this from a Boeing cargo captain in the area at the time of the incident:
So, we got this message from Tokyo Control about 200 miles NE of Sendai, Japan this morning.
We looked in the direction of N Korea but didn’t see anything. Probably too far away. pic.twitter.com/73tFIM8HFO
— Ken Hoke (@AeroSavvy) October 2, 2019
With incidents like Korean Air 007, Iran Air 655, and Malaysia Airlines MH17 at the forefront of mind, it’s hard to imagine a more unsettling message than a note from Boeing “Good news, your old Boeing 767 freighter has been updated with MCAS!”
Why refer to it as a ‘nuclear’ launch?
Some airline pilots, and probably passengers, have actually seen DPRK ballistic missiles in their terminal or deep terminal phase. It is thought this launch was from an underwater platform. But it shows that when these submarine launched ballistic missiles are mounted on a submarine and mated with a warhead, Kim will be able to shower his “lover” in the White House with fire and fury without perfecting an ICBM.