North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has squandered the equivalent of W110 billion in South Korean money on test-firing 31 ballistic missiles over the five years since he took power (US$1=W1,136).

They were 16 Scud missiles with a range of 300-1,000 km, six Rodong with a range of 1,300 km, six Hwasong-10 with a range of 3,500 km, and three submarine-launched missiles, the Defense Ministry here said Wednesday.

That is nearly double the 16 ballistic missiles his father Kim Jong-il fired in his entire 18 years at the helm.

Scud and Rodong missiles cost W1-2 billion each if measured by their export prices for Middle Eastern countries. The regime has fired a total of 22 such missiles, meaning their total cost is W22-44 billion.

Each Hwasong-10, formerly known as Musudan, is estimated at W3-6 billion, three times as much as the Scud missile, which means the regime has wasted W18-36 billion firing six.

The SLBMs the regime is developing cost an estimated W5-10 billion each.

With that money the regime could have purchased enough grain to feed the entire population for a month or two.

The regime has about 1,000 mid- and short-range ballistic missiles, military authorities here speculate.

