Page 318 - 2018 Defense White Paper

2. Progress and Assessment of Missile Development

To secure long-range delivery capabilities for its nuclear weapons, high explosives, and chemical/
biological weapons, North Korea has been committing workforce and resources in missile development
programs since the mid-1960s. It obtained Scud-B missiles from Egypt in 1976 that North Korea reverse-
engineered for the production of its own Scud-B missiles. Then, North Korea completed the deployment
of an improved version of its Scud-B missile in 1988. In 1990, it developed and deployed the Rodong
1,300 km–range missile and launched a Taepodong-1 missile in 1998 and Taepodong-2 missiles in 2006,
2009, 2012, and 2016 on the pretext of a satellite launch. North Korea also adopted the old Soviet Union’s
Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) technology and developed the Musudan long-range missile
(range of over 3,000 km) that it deployed in 2007 without a test launch. Subsequently, North Korea continued
to develop various types of ballistic missiles.
In 2016, North Korea developed Paektusan—an advanced high-yield engine. The development provided
North Korea with a foundation for the development of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. In May, August, and
September of 2017, North Korea launched a Hwasong-12 Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM). In
July and November of 2017, respectively, North Korea launched the Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15 missiles
which are assessed to be Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).
In August 2016, North Korea used the old Soviet Union’s SLBM technology to test-launch an SLBM
(Pukguksong) from a Sinpo-class submarine and test-launched two Pukguksong- 2 missiles in 2017 that are

a ground-to-ground variation.

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