Visitors walk near a wire fence decorated with ribbons written with messages wishing for the reunification of the two Koreas at the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, South Korea, on Thursday.
Lee Jin-man/AP
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Lee Jin-man/AP
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 U.S. mainland and comes days before the U.S. 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 comes as Washington warns that North Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms are heading to Ukraine, possibly adding to Russian forces and joining the war.
North Korea confirmed the opening hours after the neighbors detected firing whether they suspected there was a new, more agile weapon targeting the US mainland.
“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. DPRK stands for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.
In this photo released by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, walks near a so-called Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on a launcher at an undisclosed location in North Korea on March 24, 2022. .
Korean Central News Agency / KCNA via KNS
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Korean Central News Agency / KCNA via KNS
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff say North Korea may test a new solid-fueled long-range ballistic missile. Built-in solid-propellant missiles are easier to move and conceal 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.
Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters that the missile’s flight duration of 86 minutes and maximum altitude of more than 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles) exceeded corresponding data from 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 listed 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 closely with the US on North Korea’s latest weapons test. Lee said South Korea and the U.S. are planning “reasonable” bilateral military exercises and trilateral exercises involving Japan in response to North Korea’s threat.
An undated photo released Dec. 19, 2023, by the North Korean government shows what it says is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) being prepared for launch from an unknown location in North Korea.
Korea Central News Agency/KCNA via KNS
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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 the country 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 a high-angle launch 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 last tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in December 2023, when it launched the solid-fueled Hwasong-18.
In this image released by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, oversees an artillery drill on March 7, 2024.
Korean Central News Agency / KCNA via KNS
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In the past two years, Kim has used Russia’s 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 recently 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.
