SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s missile program is a point of national pride, with state TV regularly broadcasting past liftoffs set to rousing military anthems. But Pyongyang provides precious few details about its program’s inner workings, leaving outside analysts to squeeze details from satellite photos and comparisons with other countries’ missiles. Here’s a look at the painstaking picture outsiders have drawn of the North’s secretive missile program:
TAEPODONG: This group of rockets represents North Korea’s highest level of missile technology, according to experts in the U.S., South Korea and elsewhere. Taepodong missiles essentially use the same technology as Unha and Paektusan rockets, according to those experts. The North says they are space launch vehicles (SLVs) designed to send satellites into orbit. Taepodong is the name given by foreign experts after a village near North Korea’s east coast launch site, according to the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.
