(RepublicanInformer.com)- )- “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!”
According to South Korean defense authorities, North Korea attempted to deceive the world this week, insisting it had successfully tested a “huge” new ICBM while firing off a rocket previously launched in 2017.
According to a report released Tuesday by the South Korean defense ministry, the intercontinental ballistic missile fired by North Korea last week was most likely a Hwasong-15, which was successfully tested in November 2017 and is designed to carry a single nuclear payload. That’s not as advanced as Pyongyang’s Hwasong-17 missile, a multi-warhead missile that Pyongyang joyously declared a success with a polished, well-produced film.
How were they caught faking?
The cloud cover shown in the video didn’t match the weather on the day of the supposed launch. Also, the shadows in the footage of the Hwasong-17 launch were consistent with the position of the sun between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., rather than Thursday afternoon, when an ICBM rocketed into space and fell in the sea off of Japan.
That leads skeptics to believe that North Korea pulled a switcheroo and used a video from a failed Hwasong-17 test on the morning of March 16 and fired a Hwasong-15 and tried to sell it as a success.
The Kim dictatorship has historically relied on weapons tests to buttress a formidable image. This ego is incentive enough to hide a dismal missile failure where an explosion was visible from Pyongyang’s skies.
Kim dubbed the “successful” launch of the new missile a “priceless triumph achieved by the great Korean people,” according to North Korean official media. He also took a direct jab at the United States, adding that his troops are “are fully ready to thoroughly curb and contain any dangerous military attempts of the U.S. imperialists.”
The U.S. Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said analysts assessed that the rocket was a probable ICBM.
This is not the first time the dictator has puffed up NOKO’s military resume.
North Korea similarly manipulated video footage to pass off a failed submarine-launched ballistic missile test in January 2016.
