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All information provided below is open-source and unclassified. It is intended for casual reference only.
Missiles are comprised of a warhead, a guidance system, and a propulsion system. They can be launched from many platforms, including ships (including submarines), aircraft, and vehicles. Missiles are also used for a variety of purposes including surface-to-surface, meaning they are launched from the ground towards a ground target, or surface-to-air, meaning they are launched at a hostile aircraft.
Warheads are the contents delivered by the missile and the containers surrounding them. Warheads may include high explosive bombs, sub-structures (also known as “bomblets”), chemical weapons, and nuclear bombs.
Guidance systems use both active and passive methods to ensure the missile reaches its target. Passive methods include launch altitude and speed (usually from an aircraft), and active methods include onboard engines and homing devices.
Propulsion systems are either jet or rocket engines.
All North Korean missiles are most likely nuclear warhead capable and can deliver warheads weighing in excess of 500kg.
Missiles tested in North Korea are under the purview of the Korean People’s Army Strategic Rocket Force. It mainly tests surface-to-surface missiles from silos and launch pads (mid- to long-range), vehicles (short range), and submarines (short- to mid-range).
Missile types tested in North Korea since 1984 include the following types:
Hwasong-5 (SCUD-B): in service since 1980s
Propulsion: Liquid rocket (operational range 300km)
Classification: Short Range Ballistic Missile (SRBM)
Guidance: Inertial
Launch Platform: Vehicle
Commentary: Limited production - this is NK's first ballistic missile based on a USSR design. It's short range, but relatively accurate (<100m). Iran has purchased them from NK, and so has the UAE...they're all in storage due to performance problems.
image source: missiledefenseadvocacy.org
Hwasong-7 (AKA nodong-1, AKA SCUD-C): in service since early 1990s
Propulsion: Liquid rocket (operational range estimated 1250-1750km)
Classification: Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM)
Guidance: Inertial
Launch Platform: Vehicle
Commentary: Vulnerable to surveillance as they can only be fired from a vertical launch position; not very accurate (2km error). First missile developed in NK that could reasonably strike Japan. Iran and Pakistan field a similar missile known as the Shahab-3 adn Ghauri-I.
image source: missilethreat.csis.org
Hwasong-8: in service since 2021
Propulsion: Liquid Rocket (operational range estimated 3200-6000km)
Classification: Unknown Ballistic Missile (see commentary)
Guidance: Maneuverable Reentry AKA “homing”-type
Launch Platform: Vehicle
Commentary: Reported as hypersonic. If true, its ability to travel faster than missile defense systems can warn and respond makes it the most threatening munition for South Korea to date. Hypersonic missiles travel at least five times faster than the speed of sound (Mach 5), but the lone Hwasong-8 test conducted in September 2021 may not have exceeded Mach 2.5. There are also doubts about whether the reentry vehicle that would contain a warhead and its propulsion system separated correctly.
image source: space.com/north-korea-tests-hypersonic-vehicle-hwasong-8
Hwasong-9 (AKA SCUD-ER): in service since 1990s
Propulsion: Liquid Rocket (operational range estimated 700-1000km)
Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM)
Guidance: Inertial
Launch Platform: Vehicle
Commentary: SCUD-ER is a SCUD-B with a smaller payload, allowing for increased range.
image source: KCNA official release
Hwasong-10 (AKA Musudan): in service since 2010
Propulsion: Liquid Rocket (operational range estimated 3000-4000km)
Classification: Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM)
Guidance: Inertial
Launch Platform: Vehicle
Commentary: Not very accurate (1.5km error); North Korea has sold a version of this missile to Iran. Its guidance system is based on a 1960s era Soviet variant and is about as technologically sophisticated as a typewriter. This has its downside, but may also make this model more difficult to counter using advanced missile defense technologies.
image source: military-today.com/missiles
Hwasong-11 (KN-02): in service since 2008
Propulsion: Solid fuel rocket (operational range estimated 120-220km)
Classification: Short Range Ballistic Missile (SRBM)
Guidance: Inertial, optical correlation
Launch Platform: Vehicle
Commentary: Reverse engineered from a Soviet SCUD variant; accurate within 100m. Probably the most accurate missile in the DPRK arsenal - it was designed for precision strikes. Easy to hide and transport; rides on a commercial heavy-duty truck.
image source: missiledefenseadvocacy.org
Hwasong -12 (KN-17): in service since 2017
Propulsion: Liquid Rocket (operational range estimated 3700-6000km)
Classification: Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM)
Guidance: Inertial
Launch Platform: Vehicle
Commentary: Considered an intermediate ballistic missile; not very accurate (2km error). Launcher resembles the Musudan and would be difficult to distinguish in practice. With a lofted trajectory, this is the missile that could be used for a complex attack on Guam.
image source: KCNA official release
Pukguksong-1 (KN-11):in service since 2015
Propulsion: Solid fuel rocket (operational range estimated 500-2500km depending on source)
Classification: Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM)
Guidance: Unknown; based on Soviet R-27 which had a terminal guidance system integrated in its nose cone
Launch Platform: Submarine
Commentary: Though North Korea does not possess nuclear submarines and its diesel-electric fleet is limited, a submarine-launched nuclear munition poses a potential second-strike threat against an attacker. This missile fires in two stages and has been tested from barges when submarines were unavailable.
image source: missilethreat.csis.org
Pukguksong-2 (KN-15): in service since 2016
Propulsion: Solid fuel rocket (operational range estimated 1200-2000km)
Classification: Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM)
Guidance: Unknown
Launch Platform: Vehicle
Commentary: Has the unusual feature ability of taking and transmitting pictures of the ground when at its apogee. May be useful for guiding a reentry vehicle, though this has not been tested. Solid fuel rockets have the benefit of requiring a much shorter launch sequence - perhaps as short as five minutes.
image source: missilethreat.csis.org
Pukguksong-3 (KN-26): in service since 2019
Propulsion: Solid fuel rocket (operational range estimated 1700-2500km)
Classification: Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM)
Guidance: Inertial
Launch Platform: Submarine
Commentary: Pukgungsong-3 has been tested once, and other untested variants have been featured mostly in parades. Its test utilized a static underwater platform, which resulted in a successful incursion into Japan's exclusive economic zone, but it has not been tested from a submarine.
image source: missilethreat.csis.org
Taepodong-1: one launch on record in 2006
Propulsion: Liquid rocket
Launch Platform: Launch pad (static site)
Rocket Dimensions: estimated 30m tall, 2.2m diameter, 80 tonnes in weight
Commentary: Initially believed to be a two- or three-stage ballistic missile; has never been deployed as such. Provides technology base for Unha space launch vehicles.
image source: KCNA official release
Taepodong-2 (Unha-3) expendable carrier rocket: in service since 1998
Propulsion: Liquid rocket
Launch Platform: Launch pad (static site)
Rocket Dimensions: 30m tall, 2.4m diameter, 21 tonnes in weight
Commentary: Three stage rocket able to achieve low earth orbital delivery. Larger than the Taepodong-1 by about 32 meters and possibly 2 meters in width. Has a history of failed launches, but has also successfully delivered a satellite into orbit. This rocket could theoretically be used as an ICBM if outfitted with a reentry vehicle.
image source: KCNA official release
Generally, missiles are “smart” and rockets are “dumb.” A missile has a guidance system whereas a rocket can be fired at a calculated angle – meaning it will fire a predicted ballistic trajectory – or directly upwards, the way that rockets are launched into space.
Yes – missiles are classified into short-range (less than 1000km), medium range (1000-3000km), intermediate-range (3000-5500km), and long-range(>5500km). An ICBM is a type of long-range missile called intercontinental because they fly much farther than 5500km – an ICBM fired from Russia could hit Chicago (9156km), for example.
Not all countries maintain an arsenal, and there are many international treaties limiting proliferation of long-range missile stockpiles...especially nuclear, biological, and chemical. Countries that keep them do test them. North Korea is the only country who tests missiles by firing towards or over an adversary (Japan), which is a clear violation of international law.
image courtesy of the National Air and Space Center.