North Korea's Expanding Missile Arsenal Unpacked

 Link: https://www.wsj.com/video/series/wsj-explains/north-koreas-expanding-missile-arsenal-unpacked/1A143373-3034-4A8C-BC6E-4D8C2EB204BF

MLA: "North Korea’S Expanding Missile Arsenal Unpacked". WSJ, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/video/series/wsj-explains/north-koreas-expanding-missile-arsenal-unpacked/1A143373-3034-4A8C-BC6E-4D8C2EB204BF. Accessed 13 Nov 2021.

North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un has vowed to create an "invincible" military. North Korea, which already has access to nuclear bombs, and intercontinental ballistic missiles, has been gaining attention from other countries across the world including the United States and its allies. 

Launching its first homegrown missile in 1984, North Korea has since then, through three generations of leadership has persevered and continued its expansion of military and weaponry, especially under Kim Jong Un's leadership. According to Melissa Hanham, who has been studying mass destructive weapons in East Asia for over 15 years, says that North Korea is looking to get creative with its weapons and is doing so in a way that is less predictable, more powerful, faster, and is a tool they are hoping can help them keep up with other neighboring and high power countries.

North Korea has become so creative that they have even begun sending missiles in railway cars. This does not give them any more power, but it allows them to be sneaky especially under the radar of other countries and the U.S. which will not be able to create a distinction between passenger trains and missile trains. The railway system in North Korea travels extensively through the mountains, flat terrain, and even borders South Korea, China, and Russia. More so, new tests show that these North Korean-made missiles can even be launched from submarines underwater thanks to gliding skip mobility technology. 

These tests have been becoming more common because leader, Kim Jong Un, believes that through years of sanctions and suppression, they cannot trust South Korea or the U.S. and until these countries meet with one another, North Korea will noticeably continue to do testing and expanding. This can ultimately create fear within other countries since North Korea has been known to be so unpredictable, and furthermore gives them a seat at the table and say in what the next moves could be for international relations and a potential alliance or agreement.