Seoul, South Korea — North Korea launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday in the first test in nearly a year of a weapon designed to threaten the US mainland, days earlier. US election.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the missile test and was at the launch site, calling the launch an “appropriate military action” to show North Korea’s determination to respond to enemy moves that threaten the North’s security, according to the Defense Ministry. .
The United States, South Korea and Japan have also identified the weapon as an ICBM and condemned the launch as an escalation of tensions. The launch came as Washington warned North Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms are heading to Ukrainethe possibility of increasing Russian forces and participating in the war.
orth Korea confirmed the opening hours after neighbors detected firing from what they suspected was a new, more agile weapon targeting the US mainland This statement is unusual since North Korea usually describes weapons tests one day after they happen.
“I stress that the DPRK will not change its line to strengthen its nuclear forces,” Kim said, according to a North Korean Defense Ministry statement carried by state media outlet KCNA. DPRK stands for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.
“The fire test is an appropriate military action that is appropriate for the purpose of informing the rivals, who deliberately escalated the regional situation and posed a threat to the security of our Republic recently, of our counteraction,” said Kim. by KCNA, according to Reuters news agency.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff say North Korea may test a new solid-fueled long-range ballistic missile. Missiles with built-in solid propellants are easier to move and hide and can be launched faster than liquid propellant weapons.
JCS spokesman Lee Sung Joon said the launch may be timed for the US election in an effort to strengthen North Korea’s bargaining power in the future. He said the North Korean missile was launched at a high angle, apparently to avoid neighboring countries.
Japan’s Defense Minister, General Nakatani, told reporters the missile’s flight duration was 86 minutes longer and its maximum altitude was more than 4,350 miles higher than that seen in previous North Korean missile tests.
Lee, the South Korean military spokesman, said South Korea had a similar assessment at Thursday’s launch.
KCNA said the flight characteristics of this launch exceeded those registered for previous missile launches but did not elaborate on the differences.
US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett called the launch a “clear violation” of multiple UN Security Council resolutions that “needlessly cause tension and risk upsetting the security situation in the region.” Savett said the US will take all necessary steps to ensure the security of the American homeland and its allies South Korea and Japan.
Both South Korea and Japan condemned the North Korean launch as a threat to international peace and said they were coordinating with the US on the test. Lee said South Korea and the U.S. are planning “substantial” bilateral military exercises and trilateral exercises involving Japan in response to North Korea’s threat.
Lee said the missile could be launched from a 12-axle launch vehicle, the North’s largest mobile launch platform unveiled in September. The unveiling of the vehicle has fueled speculation that North Korea may be developing a larger ICBM than it already has.
North Korea has made advances in missile technology in recent years, but many foreign experts believe Pyongyang has yet to acquire a nuclear-armed missile capable of striking the US mainland. He said North Korea has short-range missiles capable of delivering a nuclear strike on all of South Korea.
One of the technological hurdles North Korea still faces is getting its weapons to survive the difficult conditions of re-entry into the atmosphere. South Korean officials and experts have previously said that North Korea may try to launch an ICBM at a normal angle to verify the capability.
Lee said high-angle launches like Thursday’s test could not check the missile’s re-entry vehicle technology. He said more analysis was needed to find out why North Korea did not conduct a standard trajectory launch on Thursday.
South Korea’s military intelligence agency told lawmakers on Wednesday that North Korea is close to testing a long-range missile capable of reaching the United States and has also completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test.
North Korea end of intercontinental ballistic missile tests in December 2023when launching the solid-fueled Hwasong-18.
In the past two years, Kim has been using it Russian invasion of Ukraine as a window to expand weapons tests and threats while also expanding military cooperation with Moscow. South Korea, the US and others have been disbanded accused North Korea of sending thousands of troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. He said North Korea had sent artillery, missiles and other convection weapons to Russia.
North Korea’s participation in the Ukraine war would signal a serious escalation. South Korea, the US and their allies are also worried about what North Korea might get from Russia in return for joining Russia’s war against Ukraine. Aside from his soldiers’ wages, experts say Kim Jong Un hopes to acquire high-tech Russian technology that could perfect nuclear-capable missiles and build a reliable space-based surveillance system. Kim may want Russian fighter jets and help modernize North Korea’s conventional weapons.
On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said North Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment were moving into Ukraine, which he called a dangerous and destabilizing development. Austin said the “probability is quite high” that Russia would use the force in combat.
Austin spoke at a press conference in Washington with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol last week raised the possibility of supplying weapons to Ukraine while stressing that his government “will not be idle” over North Korea’s reported troop deployment.
South Korea said on Wednesday that North Korea had sent more than 11,000 troops to Russia and that more than 3,000 had been relocated near the battlefield in western Russia.