North Korea’s latest launch was a big, new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), state media reported on Friday, in a test leader Kim Jong Un said was designed to demonstrate the might of its nuclear force and deter any U.S. military moves.
The Thursday launch was the first full ICBM test by nuclear-armed North Korea since 2017. Flight data indicated the missile flew higher and longer than any of North Korea’s previous tests before crashing into the sea west of Japan.
Called the Hwasong-17, the ICBM would be the largest liquid-fuelled missile ever launched by any country from a road-mobile launcher, analysts say.
Its range and size also suggest North Korea plans to tip it with multiple warheads that could hit several targets or with decoys to confuse defenders, according to analysts.
Kim ordered the test because of the “daily-escalating military tension in and around the Korean peninsula” and the “inevitability of the long-standing confrontation with the U.S. imperialists accompanied by the danger of a nuclear war”, the KCNA state news agency reported.
“The strategic forces … are fully ready to thoroughly curb and contain any dangerous military attempts of the U.S. imperialists,” Kim said while overseeing the launch, according to KCNA.
North Korea’s return to testing weapons that are believed to be capable of striking the United States poses a direct challenge to President Joe Biden as he responds to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It also raises the prospect of a new crisis following the election of a new, conservative South Korean administration that has pledged a more muscular military strategy towards North Korea.
South Korea’s conservative president-elect, Yoon Suk-yeol, said North Korea had nothing to gain from provocation.
In a telephone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping after the launch, Yoon called for close coordination on North Korea’s complete denuclearisation, his office said. Xi said China and South Korea should bolster mutual political trust, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said.
China, North Korea’s sole major ally and neighbour, urged restraint on “all sides” after the test.
South Korea staged an exercise with F-35 fighter jets on Friday. The launch also drew condemnation from the United States and Japan.
Kim said the test would help convince the world of the modern features of his country’s strategic forces.
“Any forces should be made to be well aware of the fact that they will have to pay a very dear price before daring to attempt to infringe upon the security of our country,” he said.
A spokesperson for the White House, asked about Kim’s remarks, said it had nothing to add to its earlier comments on the launch.
