After North Korean leader Kim Jong Un displayed his arsenal of nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBM) last month in a flurry of tests, curiosity arose regarding the test site – Alsom Island.
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Alsom Island is located 18 kilometres off North Korea’s northeastern coast and is a barren pile of rocks which has stood in for Washington as Kim temporarily directs his anger at the barren pile of rocks.
Kim carried out the all missile tests on this island in January – a move seen by many as an attempt to engage Washington in diplomacy – while focusing mostly on Pyongyang’s new generation of short-range weapons systems for which Alsom Island is a fit proving ground.
It was weapons expert Joseph Dempsey who quipped on Twitter earlier in January that Alsom Island could be North Korea’s most ‘hated rock’ given the number of missile tests that have taken place on this tiny island.
Dempsey while speaking to news agency Bloomberg said that short-range weapons systems like KN-23 can be well tested in sites like Alsom Island. “This relatively small and well-defined target presents a good way to demonstrate the apparent increased accuracy of these systems, particularly for propaganda purposes,” Dempsey was quoted as saying by news agency Bloomberg. He also highlighted that KN-23 has the ability to strike all of South Korea.
The recent IRBMs which were tested hit the rocky island at speeds above 3,000 kms per hour. The island also plays a major role in Pyongyang’s propaganda machinery with state media publishing images of these tests to bolster the supreme leader’s image among North Koreans. The island, according to experts, is also a stark reminder to Kim’s detractors that North Korea’s modernisation of its weapons systems means that it can strike any target in the world.
The former security strategy secretary at South Korea’s presidential Blue House Cheon Seong-whun said that the missile tests conducted at the Alsom Island to see if its missiles are working properly or not. “By hitting the same target from different origins of aggression, North Korea could test and improve its striking capability aimed at the ROK,” Seong-whun was quoted as saying by news agency Bloomberg.
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