JAPAN

Study says North Korean base hosts nuclear-capable missiles that put Japan in crosshairs

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un uses a pair of binoculars to look at the South's territory from an observation post at the military unit on Jangjae, an islet in the southernmost part of the southwestern sector of the North's border with the South, in March 2013. | AP

By Jesse Johnson
Staff Writer

Sep 7, 2019

A new study spotlighting an "undeclared" North Korean missile base that hosts medium-range weapons capable of striking half of Japan was released Friday amid growing concerns in Tokyo over U.S. President Donald Trump's acceptance of shorter-range missile tests by Pyongyang.

Located 1,100 km west of Tokyo and 75 km north of the Demilitarized Zone, the Kumchon-ni base "houses a battalion- or regiment-sized unit equipped with Hwasong-9 (Scud-ER) medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBM)" as well as shorter-range Hwasong-6 (Scud C) missiles, the study released Friday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank's Beyond Parallel project said.

The base is reportedly tasked with strikes against the southern half of Japan during wartime, and, to a lesser degree, South Korea, said the study, which claimed to be "the first comprehensive public report detailing the development, organization and threat posed by the Kumchon-ni missile operating base."