15 January 2021

North Korea unveils Pukguksong-5 SLBM at military parade

by Gabriel Dominguez

Less than a week after announcing plans to modernise its military and bolster its nuclear arsenal, North Korea unveiled new missile systems, including the latest version of its Pukguksong (also spelled Pukkuksong) series of submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), at a military parade held in the evening on 14 January.

The parade, which was held at Pyongyang’s Kim Il-sung Square to mark the end of the Eighth Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), took place only a day after media reports emerged about South Korea’s plans to begin conducting underwater test launches of its own SLBM later this year.

North Korea displayed at least four mock-ups of the new Pukguksong-5 SLBM at a military parade held in the evening on 14 January to mark the end of the Eighth Congress of the ruling WPK. (KCNA)

North Korea paraded at least four mock-ups of the new Pukguksong-5 SLBM on the flatbed of trucks, according to images provided by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), which did not provide any details about the weapon’s dimensions or performance.

Based on the images, the Pukguksong-5’s ogival nose cone is more elongated than that of the Pukguksong-4, making it look ‘pointier’, but, other than that, the two missiles appear to be very similar in design, including in terms of length and diameter.

Less than a week after announcing plans to modernise its military and bolster its nuclear arsenal, N...

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