North Korea has launched 17 times this year, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and 33 missiles of various kinds, with a total launch cost of $400 million to $650 million.
Since the beginning of this year, the DPRK has launched six intercontinental missiles, one medium-range missile (Hwasong-12), and 26 KN-23 North Korean version of the Iskander missile. The total launch cost of these missiles is estimated at $400 million to $650 million. This is calculated by adding up material costs (50 to 80%), labor costs (10 to 30%), and other costs (10 to 20%). The ICBM is known as the world's largest Hwasong-17 missile (5 pieces) and the Hwasong-15 missile (1 piece) launched in November 2017.
KN-23
An intercontinental missile in North Korea is estimated to be worth $13.53 million to $29.29 million, and the cost of launching each missile is $13.53 million to $29.29 million for ICBM, $9.76 million to $29.29 million for medium-range missiles, and $2.96 million to $4.92 million for short-range missiles. North Korea began launching new missiles developed since 2017 since the beginning of this year, the first time a government agency has disclosed the cost of launching these missiles.
In the past, north Korea's main missiles, Scud and Ludong, were priced at $780,000 to $1.56 million. However, the price of new intercontinental missiles, Hwasong-12, KN-23, 24, 25 and other new short-range missiles and super-large rocket launchers has not yet been disclosed. It is reported that some specialized agencies speculate that a North Korean intercontinental missile propellant (US$9.76 million), engine (US$4.68 million), guidance device (US$78,000), rocket fuselage (US$2.34 million), and other (US$3.9 million) totaled 20.78 million US dollars.
KN-24
If you take the total launch cost of North Korea's missiles this year to buy grain, taking grain (rice) as an example, you can buy 510,000 tons to 840,000 tons at the market price of Pyongyang, so North Korea's grain gap this year is 860,000 tons, which can be filled almost entirely.