North Korea has a military nuclear weapons program and, as of June 2023, is estimated to have an arsenal of approximately 30 nuclear weapons and sufficient production of fissile material for six to seven nuclear weapons per year. North Korea has also stockpiled a significant quantity of chemical and biological weapons. In 2003, North Korea withdrew from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Since 2006, the country has conducted six nuclear tests at increasing levels of expertise, prompting the imposition of sanctions.
Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk. As of 2024, it is Europe's only operational orbital spaceport and the northernmost spaceport in the world. Originally developed as an ICBM site for the R-7 missile, it also served for numerous satellite launches using the R-7 and other rockets. Its high latitude makes it useful only for certain types of launches, especially the Molniya orbits, so for much of the site's history it functioned as a secondary location, with most orbital launches taking place from Baikonur, in the Kazakh SSR. With the end of the Soviet Union, Baikonur became a foreign territory, and Kazakhstan charged $115 million usage fees annually. Consequently, Plesetsk has seen considerably more activity since the 2000s.
The Hwasong-7, also known as Nodong-1, is a single-stage, mobile liquid propellant medium-range ballistic missile developed by North Korea. Developed in the mid-1980s, it is a scaled-up adaptation of the Soviet R-17 Elbrus missiles, more commonly known by its NATO reporting name "Scud". The inventory is estimated to be around 200–300 missiles. US Air Force National Air and Space Intelligence Center estimates that as of June 2017 fewer than 100 launchers were operationally deployed.
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is a Chinese space vehicle launch facility (spaceport) located between the Ejin, Alxa, Inner Mongolia and Hangtian Town, Jinta County, Jiuquan, Gansu Province. It is part of the Dongfeng Aerospace City. Because 95% of JSLC located in Jinta County, Jiuquan, the launch center is named after Jiuquan. The launch center straddles both sides of the Ruo Shui river.
The Kwangmyŏngsŏng program was a class of experimental satellites developed by North Korea. The name Kwangmyŏngsŏng is from a poem written by Kim Il Sung. The first class of satellites built by North Korea, the program started in the mid-1980s. There have been five launches so far, of which two have been successful.
Taepodong-1 was a three-stage technology demonstrator developed by North Korea, a development step toward an intermediate-range ballistic missile. The missile was derived originally from the Scud rocket and was tested once in 1998 as a space launch vehicle. As a space launch vehicle, it was sometimes called the Paektusan 1.
Taepodong may refer to various topics, each related to northeastern Korea:
The Taepodong-2 is a designation used to indicate what was initially believed to be a North Korean two- or three-stage ballistic missile design that is the successor to the Taepodong-1 technology demonstrator. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Defense assessed that the Taepodong-2 had not been deployed as a missile. The Taepodong-2 is the technology base for the Unha space launch vehicle, and was likely not intended as ICBM technology.
Kilju, sometimes romanized as Kilchu, is a county in North Hamgyong province, North Korea. The county seat is Kilju Town.
Hwadae County (Korean: 화대군) is a county in southern North Hamgyong province, North Korea, with an area of about 460 km2 and a population of approximately 70,000. It adjoins the Sea of Japan on the east and south. By land, it adjoins Kimchaek and Kilchu to the west, and Myŏngch'ŏn to the north. The county was formed from parts of Kilchu and Myŏngch'ŏn in the 1950s, as part of a general reorganization of local government. Administratively, Hwadae is divided into one ŭp and 20 ri.
The Korean People's Army Strategic Force, previously known as the Korean People's Army Strategic Rocket Force, is a military branch of the Korean People's Army (KPA) founded in 2012 that operates surface-to-surface missiles in the nuclear and conventional strike roles. It is mainly armed with ballistic missiles; the inventory includes domestic and Soviet designs.
Sohae Satellite Launching Station is a rocket launching site in Tongch'ang-ri, Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, North Korea. The base is located among hills close to the northern border with China. The spaceport was built on the site of the village Pongdong-ri which was displaced during construction. It was the site for the 13 April 2012 launch of the North Korean satellite Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3, which was launched to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-Sung. The rocket launch failed, but on 12 December of the same year Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 was successfully launched and brought into Earth orbit.
The Unha or Eunha is a North Korean expendable carrier rocket, which partially utilizes the same delivery system as the Taepodong-2 orbital launch system.
The Korean Committee of Space Technology was the agency of the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea responsible for the country's space program. The agency was terminated and succeeded by the National Aerospace Development Administration in 2013 after the Law on Space Development was passed in the 7th session of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly.
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1 or Gwangmyeongseong-1 was a satellite allegedly launched by North Korea on 31 August 1998. While the North Korean government claimed that the launch was successful, no objects were ever tracked in orbit from the launch, and outside North Korea it is considered to have been a failure. It was the first satellite to be launched as part of the Kwangmyŏngsŏng program, and the first satellite that North Korea attempted to launch.
The Hwasong-10, also known by the names BM-25 and Musudan, is a mobile intermediate-range ballistic missile developed by North Korea. Hwasong-10 was first revealed to the international community in a military parade on 10 October 2010 celebrating the Workers' Party of Korea's 65th anniversary, although experts believe these were mock-ups of the missile. Hwasong-10 resembles the shape of the Soviet Union's R-27 Zyb submarine-launched missile, but is slightly longer. It is based on the R-27, which uses a 4D10 engine propelled by unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) and nitrogen tetroxide (NTO). These propellants are much more advanced than the kerosene compounds used in North Korea's Scuds and Nodong missiles.
The 2014 North Korean missile tests were a series of North Korean missile tests in 2014.
The government of North Korea conducted a nuclear detonation on 9 September 2016, the fifth since 2006, at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, approximately 50 kilometres northwest of Kilju City in Kilju County.
The Hwasong-14, also known under alternative US designation codename KN-20, is a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile developed by North Korea. It had its maiden flight on 4 July 2017, which coincided with the United States' Independence Day. North Korea is the only known operator of this missile.
The Hwasong-17 is a North Korean two-stage ICBM, first unveiled on 10 October 2020, at the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) parade. The Japanese Ministry of Defence estimates its operational range at 15,000 km or more. Unlike its predecessors, the Hwasong-17 may be capable of carrying multiple warheads. North Korea claimed the first Hwasong-17 was successfully launched on 24 March 2022. Western analysts instead believe the 24 March launch was an earlier missile design, and a later test that took place on 18 November 2022 was the first successful test launch.
