Facts
| North Korean/U.S. Designation | Pukguksong-3, KN-26 |
| Missile Variants | |
| Mobility and Role | Submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) |
| Designer/Producer | North Korea |
| Range | 1900 km |
| Warhead Type and Weight | |
| MIRV and Yield | No MIRV capability / Unknown |
| Guidance System/Accuracy | |
| Stages/Propellant | Two/Solid |
| IOC | 2019 |
| Status/Number of Units | In Development |
Development
The Pukguksong-3 is a North Korean submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), first unveiled in August 2017, when a diagram of the missile was in the background in footage of Kim Jong-Un visiting the Chemical Material Institute, an organization responsible for creating much of North Korea’s solid-rocket motors. It was first launched on October 3, 2019. It reached an apogee of 910 km, while flying 450 km from its underwater launch platform, which was most likely not a submarine, to its target in Japan’s exclusive economic zone off Shimane prefecture. Analysts say that if launched on a normal trajectory, it would have a maximum range of about 1,900 km, long enough to strike all of the Korean Peninsula and most of Japan.
There are no other known tests of the Pukguksong-3. It is most likely that the Pukguksong-3 will never enter full service in the DPRK. Newer varients of the Pukguksong have made public appearances, and North Korea has conducted other underwater launches of SLBMs/SRBMs.
