This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.
There is no sign of North Korea deploying missile launchers toward its border with South Korea, the South’s military said on Friday, casting doubt on a North Korean announcement that it was sending 250 new tactical ballistic missile launchers to the border.
“It was reported as if they were being deployed to the front, but there is currently no sign showing that,” an official from the Joint Chiefs of Staff told a briefing.
“The production of missiles to fill the launchers is also expected to take a considerable time,” the official added.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a ceremony on Sunday to commemorate the transfer of a new-type tactical ballistic missile weapon system, which showcased the launchers.
The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency published photographs on Monday showing what appeared to be vehicle-based missile launchers, with dozens of large green military trucks lined up in rows before Kim.
Asked if the North Korean launchers shown in the pictures could be mock-ups, the South Korean official said that they had found no evidence to support that.
Kim said in a speech on Sunday the new missile launchers were built with North Korean technology, adding that the display was the first stage of work for the planned missile force deployment by border units.
The North Korean leader blamed the U.S. for creating various types of threats that forced his country to enhance its military capabilities.
At that time, South Korea’s military said the new weapons would likely be used to threaten the South, a move that would put pressure on the South and its allies to counter with more advanced missiles and defense systems of their own, according to experts.
