According to the militaries of its neighbours, North Korea test-fired possibly its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Thursday, upping the ante in a pressure campaign to persuade the United States and other rivals to recognise it as a nuclear power and lift crippling sanctions.
This test would be the country’s first since 2017. According to CBS News’ Lucy Craft, officials in Tokyo and Seoul say it looks to have been a new sort of ICBM.
Following reports from the U.S. and South Korean militaries that North Korea was getting ready to test-flight its largest ICBM yet, the country’s onslaught of weapons tests this year continued with the launch.
The military of South Korea retaliated by conducting live-fire drills with its own missiles launched from ships, planes, and land vehicles, emphasizing a resurgence of tensions as nuclear talks remain stalled. It claimed to have verified its readiness to carry out precise attacks against the command and support centres and missile launch pads of North Korea.
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What Can North Korea’s ICBMs Do?
The primary purpose of ICBMs, which have ballistic missiles with a minimum range of around 5,500 kilometres, is to deliver nuclear bombs. There are some that can traverse 10,000 or even more kilometres.
While some missiles only have one payload, analysts think North Korea is working to develop the ability to carry several warheads on a single missile, each of which can be guided to a different target.
On November 3, North Korea allegedly conducted its most recent ICBM test by launching a series of missiles into the ocean in an effort to protest joint military exercises by South Korea and the US.
The launch on November 3 seemed to be a previously unseen ICBM, likely a variation of the Hwasong-15 missile, which was initially tested in 2017 and may have also been launched in March, according to analysts based on images given by official media.
An official from South Korea stated that the test conducted on November 3 may have failed at a high altitude. An apparent failure of several North Korean ICBM tests this year has been reported by South Korean and US sources.
On March 24, North Korea asserted that its enormous new Hwasong-17 ICBM had been successfully launched for the first time. However, South Korean and US officials determined that launch to have actually been the Hwasong-15 that had already been fired.
Although it took 67.5 minutes to reach a maximum height of 6,248.5 kilometres, the March 24 launch was still the largest ICBM test ever conducted by the North, according to North Korean state media.
Additionally, during recent South Korean and American military exercises, some of which included Japan, the North recently launched hundreds of artillery projectiles into the sea.
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Missile Launches
North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile on Thursday while its foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, warned of “fiercer military responses” to American steps to increase its military posture, saying Washington was making a “gamble it will regret.”
Choe denounced a Sunday trilateral summit of the US, South Korea, and Japan in a statement broadcast by state media, during which the leaders of three nations denounced Pyongyang’s weapons tests and committed to enhancing security cooperation.
President Joe Biden of the United States underlined to Yoon and Kishida his resolve to bolster extended deterrence and defend the two Asian partners with a “full range of capabilities,” including nuclear weapons, during that meeting.
Yoon demanded more penalties against the North and steps to implement extended deterrence during a National Security Council meeting after the launch on Friday, though he did not specify any specifics. A nuclear test by North Korea, which hasn’t done one since 2017, has also caused increasing concern.
Officials from the United States and South Korea claim that the North has finished making ready for such a test, which is anticipated to take place underground and possibly make use of a more compact nuclear weapon intended for tactical use.
Resolutions of the UN Security Council that have imposed sanctions on North Korea for its missile and nuclear weapons programmes prohibit the country from testing ballistic missiles. North Korean ICBM tests this year appear to have failed on several occasions, according to South Korean and American sources, including one on November 3 that failed at a high altitude.
According to state media, North Korea launched its largest ICBM ever on March 24. The weapon travelled 67.5 minutes and 6,248.5 kilometres (3,905 miles) in the air. Additionally, during recent South Korean and American military exercises, some of which included Japan, the North recently launched hundreds of artillery projectiles into the sea.
DPRK Test-Fires New ICBM, KCNA
Under the watchful eye of its supreme leader Kim Jong Un, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) toward eastern waters on Friday, the government-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) claimed.
The report hailed the test-fire as a resounding affirmation of the dependability and potent combat performance of the new strategic weapon system. The new-type ICBM Hwasongpho-17 was launched at the Pyongyang International Airport and travelled a distance of 999.2 km for 4,135 seconds before accurately landing on a preset area in eastern open waters, it said.
The top DPRK official praised the test’s success and emphasised the need for his nation to “significantly expedite the fortification of overwhelming nuclear deterrent” in light of the recent perilous situation on the Korean Peninsula.
According to Kim, the DPRK’s military retaliation will be more forceful the more the US is fixated on using war games and a “strengthened offer of extended deterrence” to its allies as a pretext for military posturing on the Korean Peninsula and the territories around it.
He cautioned that if adversaries continued to threaten by often introducing nuclear attack capabilities, his nation would steadfastly “respond to nukes with nuclear weapons and to total confrontation with all-out confrontation.” Enditem.
DPRK Government Statement On Successful Test-fire
In accordance with the political decision and strategic plan made by the Workers’ Party of Korea, the intercontinental ballistic rocket Hwasong-15 was successfully tested. The intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasong-15 type armament system is a rocket that can reach the whole U.S. mainland and is capped with a super-large heavy warhead.
This system outperforms Hwasong-14 in terms of tactical, technological, and technical specifications and qualities. It is also the most potent ICBM that satisfies the DPRK’s deadline for finishing the development of its rocket weaponry system.
Comrade Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch of the ICBM Hwasong-15, which was authorised by the WPK and the DPRK government, at 02:48 on Nov. 29, Juche 106 (2017) in Pyongyang’s suburbs. The rocket made a 53-minute flight along its planned orbit before making a precise landing in the open ocean in the East Sea of Korea.
The test-fire was carried out using the highest angle launch mechanism, and it had no negative consequences for the security of the surrounding nations. The rocket travelled 950 km throughout its 950-kilometre flight, reaching an altitude of 4 475 km.
Kim Jong Un proudly announced, “Now we have completely fulfilled the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force, the cause of constructing a rocket power,” after witnessing the successful launch of the new kind of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasong-15.
The great success of the ICBM Hwasong-15 test-fire is a priceless victory achieved by the great and brave people of the DPRK who have faithfully upheld the WPK’s line on the concurrent development of the two fronts without even the slightest wavering in the face of numerous challenges from the vicious U.S. imperialists and their supporters and difficulties.
Because the DPRK is developing and advancing its strategic weapons to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity from American imperialists’ nuclear blackmail policy and nuclear threat and to guarantee the peaceful lives of its citizens, these weapons do not pose a threat to any other nation or region as long as the DPRK’s interests are not violated. Our solemn proclamation is as follows.
The DPRK will exert all reasonable efforts to further the admirable goal of preserving world peace and stability as a responsible nuclear power and a peace-loving nation.
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