North Korea confirms testing its largest ICBM yet
Local media reported that Kim Jong-Un personally guided the launch of the powerful new Hwasong-17 missile.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un walks away from a missile on 24 March 2022.(KCNA/Reuters)
North Korea has stated that it tested a new, powerful type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), ending a self-imposed moratorium on long-range testing that had been in place since 2017.
State media reported on Friday, that North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, had personally guided the test of the Hwasong-17, a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile that is the country's largest to date.
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An image published by North Korean state media of the launch of the Hwasong-17. (KCNA/AFP)
The North Korean leader stated that his country would keep developing a "nuclear war deterrent" while preparing for a "long-standing confrontation" with the US.
The missile reportedly flew 1,090 kilometers (681 miles) to a maximum altitude of 6,248.5 kilometers (3,905 miles) before colliding with a target in the sea.
Kim ordered the test due to "daily-escalating military tension in and around the Korean peninsula" and the "inevitability of the long-standing confrontation with US imperialists accompanied by the danger of nuclear war," the state-run KCNA news agency reported.
The successful test was described as a "striking demonstration of great military muscle" by KCNA, while Kim described it as a "miraculous" and "priceless" victory by the Korean people.
South Korean and Japanese military data showed that the missile flew higher and for a longer period of time than any of North Korea's previous tests before crashing into the sea west of Japan.
It was the first full-capability launch of the state's largest missiles since 2017, marking a significant step forward in Pyongyang's weapon development.
Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who met at a Group of Seven summit in Brussels, condemned the North Korean launch, emphasized the importance of diplomacy, and agreed to work together to hold Pyongyang "accountable," according to a White House official.
Earlier, White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said that “this launch is a brazen violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region.”
It is worth mentioning that Pyongyang had performed ten missile launches this year, more than in the whole year of 2021, before Thursday. According to US, South Korean, and Japanese sources, two of North Korea's recent launches included components of the country's next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile system.
