North Korea conducted an operational ballistic missile launch from a fixed, land-based silo for the first time on Sunday, a step toward deploying tactical nuclear weapons that can carry out preemptive strikes faster than ever.

Throughout Kim Jong Un’s ongoing military modernization program that kicked off in Jan. 2021, North Korea’s Academy of Defense Science has given particular attention to alternative basing modes for its KN-23 solid-fuel missile.

In Sept. 2021, the KN-23 became North Korea’s first rail-launched ballistic missile. A month later, the DPRK launched a navalized variant from a submarine. In Oct