North Korea’s state-run television aired video footage on Thursday of the communist country’s first successful test-firing of missiles that were launched from a train. The missiles were tested at dawn on Sept. 15 and accurately struck a targeted area 497 miles (800 kilometers) in the sea off North Korea’s east coast, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The launch was part of a firing drill aimed at “confirming the practicality of the railway mobile missile system,” the agency reported. The railway-borne missile was transported along rail tracks in the country’s mountainous central region. A rail-based ballistic system reflects North Korea’s efforts to diversify its launch options, which now include various vehicles and ground launch pads and may eventually include submarines. Firing a missile from a train could add mobility, but some experts say North Korea’s simple rail networks running through its relatively small territory would be quickly destroyed by enemies during a crisis. State media showed …
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