Experts say North Korea launched the missile but did not use the United
States' Global Positioning System (GPS). Pyongyang further discovered its
launch by using Russia's GLONASS navigation system to test its fourth
missile.
North Korea conducted four missile tests in January, including two
hypersonic missile launches on January 5 and 11 and one ballistic missile
launched by train on January 14 and one tactical missile.
In a Newsnpr report on Tuesday (18/1/2022), experts said North Korea's
missile tests in recent years, including two launches of intercontinental
ballistic missiles, could not be underestimated.
"North Korea has achieved success even without using US GPS," say experts.
"No side confronts the US using GPS because they fear the risk of
interference or US military interference," said Andrei Chang,
editor-in-chief of the Canada-based Kanwa Defense Review.
He also added, "Instead, they can use China's Beidou global positioning
system or Russia's GLONASS."
A source close to the Chinese military said the Beidou system, which has
been fully operational since 2020, does not support other countries' missile
tests. The source also confirmed that North Korea used GLONASS to test its
missiles even though the range of the Russian system is not as extensive as
GPS.
"The experts from Pyongyang launched the Beidou and GLONASS systems, they
decided that the Russian system was suitable for North Korea's geographic
location at high latitude during missile launches," the source said.
The experts explained, “It is also common knowledge that North Korea
benefited from the legacy of the Soviet Union, which transferred
medium-range missile technology to Pyongyang after the Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty signed with the United States.”
The INF was signed in 1987, requiring the US and Soviet Union to eliminate
all ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of 500-5,000
km. The US withdrew from the INF treaty in 2019.
US and Western intelligence agencies have long believed that North Korea is
developing missiles based on 1960s-era designs and technology.
