Seoul, South Korea
CNN
—
North Korea mentioned Sunday it carried out a check of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) a day earlier, its third identified check of the long-range weapon in lower than a yr.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency mentioned a Hwasong-15 ICBM was fired in a “surprise ICBM launching drill” underneath the written orders of chief Kim Jong Un.
The missile flew 989 kilometers (614 miles) for nearly 67 minutes to an altitude of 5,768.5 kilometers (3,584 miles), in line with the KCNA report.
It mentioned the check was proof of Pyongyang’s capacity to launch a “fatal nuclear counterattack on the hostile forces” and “clear proof of the sure reliability of our powerful physical nuclear deterrent.”
Saturday’s check got here after North Korea warned Friday of “unprecedented strong responses” if the United States and South Korea go forward with deliberate army workouts.
And on Sunday, Kim Yo Jong, the sister of chief Kim Jong Un and the highest official in her brother’s regime, issued one other warning.
“We will watch every movement of the enemy and take corresponding and very powerful and overwhelming counteraction against its every move hostile to us,” she mentioned in an announcement launched by KCNA.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida mentioned the missile fired Saturday landed inside Japan’s unique financial zone west of the northern predominant island of Hokkaido, sparking condemnation from the US.
The ICBM check was North Korea’s third in a yr.
North Korea launched a missile final March with a barely longer flight distance and time. That was its first check of such a missile since 2017.
In November, after one other related launch, Pyongyang introduced the “test firing of a new kind” ICBM, which it known as the Hwasong-17.
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada mentioned on the time it had the potential to achieve the US mainland. “The ICBM-class ballistic missile launched this time could have a range of over 15,000 km when calculated based on the flight distance of this ICBM,” Hamada mentioned in an announcement. “It depends on the weight of the warhead, but in that case, the US mainland would be included in the range.”
North Korea checks its missiles at a extremely lofted trajectory. If they had been fired at a flatter trajectory, they might in concept have the power to achieve the US mainland.
The US authorities described Saturday’s missile launch as “a flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions,” in line with an announcement from White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson.
“While [the US Indo-Pacific Command] has assessed it did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, or territory, or to our allies, this launch needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region,” Watson mentioned. “It only demonstrates that the DPRK continues to prioritize its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs over the well-being of its people.”
Watson mentioned the US is urging different nations “to condemn these violations and call on the DPRK to cease its destabilizing actions and engage in serious dialogue.”
Earlier this month, the Kim Jong Un regime showcased almost at least 11 advanced ICBMs at a nighttime army parade in Pyongyang in the largest show but of what its state-run media described as North Korea’s “nuclear attack capability.”
Analysts mentioned these missiles seemed to be Hwasong-17s.
Ankit Panda, a nuclear coverage skilled on the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, mentioned on social media that if every missile in the parade had been geared up with a number of nuclear warheads, they might characterize sufficient quantity to overwhelm US ballistic missile defenses.
Saturday’s check got here after the North Korean Foreign Ministry lashed out on the United States and South Korea on Friday over their plans for upcoming army workouts.
Washington and Seoul are anticipated to carry nuclear tabletop drills subsequent week on the Pentagon, the South Korean Defense Ministry mentioned Friday. The allies are additionally anticipated to carry army drills subsequent month in the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea, in the identical assertion, additionally mentioned it would take into account extra army motion if the UN Security Council continues to strain Pyongyang “as the United States wants.”
In January, Kim Jong Un called for “an exponential increase of the country’s nuclear arsenal” and highlighted the “necessity of mass-producing tactical nuclear weapons,” in line with the nation’s state media KCNA.
Kim had known as for the event of a brand new “Intercontinental Ballistic Missile system,” able to a fast nuclear counterstrike, in line with the KCNA report.