North Korea confirms the firing of an intercontinental missile

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Sunday its latest test launch of an ICBM was aimed at bolstering its “deadly” atomic strike capability against adversaries and threatened further drastic measures due to planned military exercises between the United States and South Korea.

Saturday’s shooting by the MBIC, the first by Pyongyang since Jan. 1, suggests North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is taking advantage of rivals’ military drills to expand the country’s nuclear capability to bolster his position in possible future negotiations with the United States.

According to an expert, North Korea could consider regular operational exercises using intercontinental ballistic missiles.

North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the launch of the MBIC Hwasong-15 was staged “suddenly” without notice on the direct order of leader Kim Jong Un.

The KCNA said the launch was aimed at verifying the weapon’s reliability and the combat readiness of the country’s nuclear force.

He added that the missile reached a maximum altitude of around 5,770 kilometers (3,585 miles) and traveled around 990 kilometers (615 miles) during a 67-minute flight before landing precisely in the intended area. in the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan. .

The launch was carried out at an inclined angle, apparently so as not to pass over neighboring countries.

Details of the flight released by North Korea, almost similar to previous assessments from neighboring countries, show that the weapon is theoretically capable of reaching the mainland United States if fired on a standard trajectory.

The launch of Hwasong-15 showcased North Korea’s “powerful nuclear physical deterrent” and its efforts to “convert its capability of a deadly nuclear counterattack against hostile forces” into one so potent that it is impossible to counter it, the KCNA said. .

The possibility that North Korea has a CBM carrying a nuclear warhead continues to spark debate, with some experts saying Pyongyang does not have the technology to protect nuclear warheads from the harsh conditions rockets face when re-entering the Earth. atmosphere.

North Korea claims to have obtained the technology for re-entry of the missile into the atmosphere.

The Hwasong-15 is one of North Korea’s three types of ICBMs, all of which use liquid propellants that must be injected before launch and cannot remain in the rocket’s canisters for long periods of time.

North Korea intends to build a solid-fuel CABM that would be more mobile and harder to detect before launch.