FILE – This photo provided by the North Korean government shows the test firing of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile at Pyongyang International Airport, North Korea, November 18, 2022. (Korea Central News Agency/ Korea News Service via AP, File)

North Korea announced today that The intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that fired on Thursday was a Hwasong-17the one with the most range potential in its arsenal, a launch attended by the dictator Kim Jong Un and that he intends to respond to the military maneuvers that Seoul and Washington are carrying out these days in the south of the peninsula.

Kim “stressed the need to instill fear in enemies, effectively deter the possibility of war breaking out, and reliably guarantee the peaceful life” of North Koreans, the state agency reported. KCNA.

The text indicates that the launch was carried out “in view of the serious situation in which the most unstable security environment is generated on the Korean peninsula due to the frantic, provocative and aggressive large-scale war simulations” which are in progress. course. South Korea and the United Stateswhose spring operates, freedom shieldThey will end on March 23.

The most recent launch was a few hours before South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will visit Tokyo meet the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishidawith the aim of improving bilateral relations and cementing a trilateral security cooperation agreement with the United States to counter North Korean threats.

In this file photo released by the North Korean government, what is said to be a Hwasong-17 ICBM is shown during a military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Army, in the square Kim Il, in Pyongyang, North Korea. , February 8, 2023. (Korea Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
In this file photo released by the North Korean government, what is said to be a Hwasong-17 ICBM is shown during a military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Army, in the square Kim Il, in Pyongyang, North Korea. , February 8, 2023. (Korea Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

Conservative Yoon’s rise to power last May and Pyongyang’s arms advances are helping to boost cooperation, especially in the military, after a period when relations between Seoul and Tokyo hit their worst moment in decades. years.

For its part, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said the projectile flew for about 69 minutes and crashed into the waters of the Sea of ​​Japan at around 8:18 a.m. local time (2318 GMT Wednesday) about 250 kilometers east. west. of Oshima Island, located off the southwest coast of the northern island of Hokkaido.

The allies have warned that North Korea, which sees the exercises as a test to invade it and has promised to give an “unprecedented response” to these maneuvers, has everything ready to carry out a new nuclear test when it wants and some experts believe the regime could choose to test its first solid fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)more efficient than those using liquid propellants.

Last year, Pyongyang tested more than 70 missiles, including nuclear-capable missiles targeting South Korea, Japan and the United States mainland. North Korea said many of the tests were a warning of previous U.S.-South Korean military drills.

(With information from EFE)

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