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North Korea says it tested new intercontinental ballistic missile

Seoul, South Korea –

North Korea said on Friday it had successfully test-fired a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, a development that, if confirmed, could provide the country with an elusive weapon. rather than the continental United States.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency released the report a day after neighboring countries detected the launch from an area near the capital Pyongyang, adding to a series of tests involving more than 100 rockets. Fire has been launched into the sea since the beginning of 2022. .

KCNA said the test was supervised on-site by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who described the missile – dubbed the Hwasong-18 – as the most powerful weapon in his nuclear force that would increase strengthen counter-attack capabilities in the face of external threats posed by the military activities of the United States and its allies in the region.

Kim pledged to further expand his nuclear arsenal so that his opponents “suffer extreme anxiety and fear in the face of an insurmountable threat, and at the same time regret and despair of his decisions.”

North Korea has justified its weapons demonstrations as a response to extensive military drills between the United States and South Korea, which North Korea condemns as rehearsals for aggression while using them as military drills. an excuse to further promote his own weapons development.

“Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un said accelerating the development of more powerful and advanced weapons systems is the consistent policy of our party and government to deal with military threats and the security situation is getting worse on the Korean Peninsula,” KCNA said.

The newspaper quoted Kim as saying that the Hwasong-18 would rapidly advance North Korea’s nuclear response posture and further support an aggressive military strategy vowing to maintain “nuke for nuke and all-out confrontation to full confrontation” against its opponents.

“The Hwasong-18 weapon system operated by the country’s strategic forces will play the role and mission of protecting (North Korea), preventing invasions and protecting the safety of the country, this is its most powerful method,” KCNA said.

Since 2017, North Korea has tested a variety of intercontinental ballistic missiles that have demonstrated potential ranges that could reach the US mainland, but its previous missiles have been powered by nuclear weapons. Liquid fuel engines need to be refueled relatively early before launch, as they cannot sustain fuel for long periods of time.

An ICBM with integrated solid fuel will be easier to move and hide, and can fire faster, reducing the chance for an opponent to detect and counter the launch. However, from Friday’s report, it is unclear how close North Korea has come to possessing a functional solid-fuel ICBM capable of reaching and striking the continental United States.

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense asserts that North Korea has not yet acquired the necessary re-entry vehicle technology to protect ICBM warheads from the harsh conditions of re-entry. Last month, South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-Sup also told lawmakers that North Korea may not have mastered the technology to mount nuclear warheads on its latest short-range missiles aimed at South Korea. although he acknowledged the country had made significant progress. up there.

“This is an important breakthrough for North Korea, but not an unexpected one,” said Ankit Panda, an expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“The primary importance of solid-fuel ICBMs is in terms of what they will do to ensure the viability of the entire North Korean ICBM force,” he said.

“Because these missiles are fueled at the time of production and are therefore ready for use when needed, they will be much more usable in a crisis or conflict, depriving South Korea of The United States and the United States valuable time can be useful to pre-hunt and destroy such missiles.”

KCNA described the Hwasong-18 as a three-stage rocket, but it was not clear whether the third stage was activated during the test. During testing, the rocket’s first stage was placed in standard ballistic assist mode but the second and third stages were programmed to fly at a higher angle after detachment to avoid leadership. territories of neighboring countries, KCNA said.

Solid-fuel ICBMs highlight an expanded wish list that Kim announced in his five-year weapons development plan by 2021, which also includes tactical nuclear weapons, hypersonic missiles, ships nuclear-powered underground and spy satellites.

This year alone, North Korea has fired about 30 missiles in more than 12 different launches as both the pace of its weapons development and military exercises between the United States and South Korea have increased in a cycle. tit-for-tat period.

The US and South Korean militaries conducted their biggest exercises in years last month and held separate joint air and naval exercises involving a US aircraft carrier strike group. and nuclear-capable US bombers.

North Korea claims the drills simulate an all-out war against the North and has threatened to occupy Pyongyang and behead its leader. The United States and South Korea have described their drills as defensive in nature and said an expansion of those drills is necessary to counter North Korea’s growing threats.

Experts say Kim’s nuclear effort is ultimately aimed at forcing the United States to accept the idea of ​​North Korea as a nuclear power and negotiate economic and security concessions from the ground up.

Nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled since 2019 due to disagreements over the exchange of the lifting of US-led sanctions against North Korea and steps by North Korea to reduce reduce nuclear and missile programs.



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