North Korea said on Thursday it had successfully tested its new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile under the direction of its leader Kim Jong Un, days after it threatened to shoot down US spy planes that violated its airspace.
• Also read: North Korea launches an unidentified ballistic missile
• Also read: Pyongyang threatens to shoot down any US spy plane that violates its airspace
A beaming Kim, flanked by his wife and top aides, appeared through state media cheering excitedly after the Hwasong-18, a device believed to have been used only by the military, was shot down on Wednesday in North Korea only once before, in April. .
The official Korean Central News Agency said the missile traveled 1,001 km at a maximum altitude of 6,648 km before hitting the East Sea, using the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.
Experts say the flight time of about 70 minutes is similar to that of some previous ICBMs launched by North Korea.
By February, the Hwasong-15 had traveled 989 kilometers.
The agency commented that Wednesday’s experience was a “huge explosion” that shook “the entire planet”.
It was carried out from a launch pad designed to look like a natural garden surrounded by ponds and trees at a private mansion for the Kim family east of Pyongyang, according to NK News, a Seoul specialist.
Strengthening the nuclear arsenal
The agency said that Kim Jong Un promised on this occasion “a series of strong military attacks” until the United States and South Korea change their policy towards North Korea.
Confirmation of the shooting, announced by the South Korean military on Wednesday, comes at a time when relations are at an all-time low between the two Koreas.
North Korea’s number one last year called his country’s nuclear energy status “irreversible” and called for further development of armaments, particularly tactical nuclear weapons.
Referring to the “unstable situation” on the Korean Peninsula, Kim Jong-un again urged “more intensive efforts” to bolster North Korea’s nuclear arsenal on the occasion of this latest test.
In response, the South Koreans and Americans promised that North Korea would face a nuclear retaliation and the “end” of its current government if it decided to use nuclear weapons against them.
The Army General Staff’s response to Wednesday’s shooting “is a serious provocation that undermines peace and security on the Korean Peninsula” and violates UN sanctions against Pyongyang, and South Korea called on North Korea to put an end to such actions.
The United Nations, the United States and their allies, including France, also strongly condemned it on Wednesday.
The US National Security Council warned that it “unnecessarily raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region”.
Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno cautiously compared this ICBM to the solid-fuel missile first launched in April, warning that these devices “have an instant-fire advantage” over missiles. Liquid fuel at the disposal of the Pyongyang regime.
“decisive measures”
On Monday, North Korea threatened to shoot down US spy planes that violated its airspace and condemned Washington’s plan to send a ballistic missile submarine near the Korean peninsula.
A spokesman for North Korea’s Defense Ministry said the United States had “intensified espionage activities,” referring to spy planes that carried out several flights in July, described as “provocative,” for eight consecutive days.
The company added, “There is no guarantee that such a horrific incident as the downing of the US Army’s strategic reconnaissance plane will not occur in the East Sea of Korea.”
Kim Jong Un’s influential sister, Kim Yo Jong, said a US spy plane violated her country’s airspace twice on Monday morning.
The United States announced in April that one of its nuclear-powered submarines would visit a South Korean port for the first time in decades, without giving an exact date.
In response to North Korea’s weapons tests, South Korean President Yoon Sok Yol has strengthened defense cooperation with Washington this year, organizing joint military exercises.
Des images satellitaires récentes suggèrent par ailleurs que Pyongyang se prepare à un défilé militaire massif plus tard ce mois-ci pour marquer l’anniversaire de l’armistice de la Guerre de Corée le 27 juillet, connu sous le nom de Jour de la Victoire dans North.
