DPRK tests new nuclear deterrence ballistic missile: Hwasong-18
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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea reveals it has tested its latest in the fleet of nuclear deterrence strategic weapons, the Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile.
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This photo provided April 14, 2023, by the DPRK government, shows leader Kim Jong Un, center, inspecting what appears to be the test-launch of Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday, April 13, 2023, at an undisclosed location, DPRK. (KCNA via AP)
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea announced on Friday that it tested on Thursday a new Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, according to KCNA. This is the latest in the DPRK's arsenal of deterrence weapons, which has shown rapid development in this strategic area.
According to KCNA, the national news agency, the new "nuclear war deterrent for self-defense" is aimed at transforming the DPRK into "a powerful force capable of preventing the nuclear holocaust and deterring all sorts of possible dangerous enemy invasions, and a treasured sword for defending justice and peace."
The national news agency stated that Kim Jong Un, who serves as the general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, personally guided and supervised the launch of the newly-tested deterrence weapon.
Alongside the DPRK leader, photos showed that Kim's youngest daughter was also present at the launch. It is worth noting that the two have also been spotted jointly supervising previous missile test launches earlier in the year.
BREAKING: First images of North Korea's new Hwasong-18 solid-fuel ICBM released by state media Friday. It was test launched Thursday in the presence of Kim Jong Un and his daughter
— NK NEWS (@nknewsorg) April 13, 2023
More @nknewsorg soon pic.twitter.com/moyfZdOYg0
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno protested the DPRK's test missile launch through its Beijing embassy, claiming that such actions are a threat to global peace and security but avoided mentioning any information pertaining to the latest Japanese Joint Staff drills that were conducted alongside the US, which simulated an invasion on North Korea.
Significantly, the ongoing test was conducted amid a halt in cross-border communications between the DPRK and South Korea. The prior stopped responding "to regular calls from the South through inter-Korean communication channels, including the military and the unification ministry lines," according to Sputnik.
According to KCNA, the leader of the DPRK was pleased with the developments achieved noting that: "He affirmed that the WPK and the DPRK government would make the enemy, who are imperiling the environment on the Korean peninsula and harassing the Korean people's peaceful life and struggle for socialist construction with their inveterate policy of aggression and threatening military moves, experience a clearer security crisis, and constantly strike extreme uneasiness and horror into them by taking fatal and offensive counter-actions until they abandon their senseless thinking and reckless acts, thus making them feel regret and despair for their wrong choice by surely exposing them to an irresistible threat."
Japan and US conduct military drills in response to DPRK's Haeil-2
The Japanese Joint Staff announced on Thursday that Japan and the US conducted joint air force drills following a recent missile launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
In a statement, the Joint Staff noted that the "Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Armed Forces conducted a bilateral exercise on Thursday, April 13 amid an increasingly severe security environment surrounding Japan, including North Korea's suspected high angle ICBM-class Ballistic Missile launch."
According to the statement, the drills included four Japanese F-2 fighters and an equal number of US F-16 jets.
Read more: DPRK tests underwater nuclear drone Haeil-2
