SEOUL: North Korea said on Thursday (Jul 13) it had successfully tested its new intercontinental ballistic missile, state media reported, as Pyongyang vented its fury after threatening to down US spy planes it said had violated its airspace.
The report from state-run KCNA news agency said the Hwasong-18 – a new type of purportedly solid-fuel ballistic missile that has reportedly only been fired by the North once before, in April – flew 1,001km at a maximum altitude of 6,648km before splashing into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.
The flight time of around 70 minutes is also similar to some of North Korea’s previous ICBM launches, experts said.
The launch, which KCNA said was guided by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was a “grand explosion” that shook “the whole planet”, according to the report.
Kim also vowed that “a series of stronger military offensive” would be launched until the United States and South Korea change their policies towards the North, KCNA said.
The confirmation of the launch – which the South Korean military had reported on Wednesday – came as relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points ever, with diplomacy stalled and Kim calling for increased weapons development, including tactical nukes.
In response, Seoul and Washington have ramped up security cooperation, vowing that Pyongyang would face a nuclear response and the “end” of its current government were it to ever use its nuclear weapons against the allies.
The launch “is a grave provocation that damages the peace and security of the Korean peninsula” and violates United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang, South Korea’s military said, calling on North Korea to stop such actions.
The United Nations, United States and its allies, including France, also strongly condemned it.
“This launch is a brazen violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilising the security situation in the region,” US National Security Council spokesperson Adam Hodge said in a statement.
Pyongyang in February also launched a Hwasong-15, which flew a similar 989km.
Source: CNA
