A new open-source intelligence analysis of North Korean state-run media by missile experts has shown what appears to be the hypothetical target of the country's test-launches earlier this week: U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
On Monday, the North test-fired what experts said were likely four extended-range (ER) Scud missiles, with the official Korean Central News Agency issuing an overt claim that the drill was a rehearsal for striking U.S. military bases in Japan.
Using images released by North Korean state media — including one showing a map detailing the range of the missiles — David Schmerler and Jeffrey Lewis of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California, determined that the drill intended to simulate a nuclear attack on the base at Iwakuni.