The missile was launched from Sunan, an area of ​​the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The launch is North Korea’s first since a military parade late on April 25, in which leader Kim Jong Un vowed to accelerate his development of nuclear weapons.

Weapons on display at the parade in Pyongyang included a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), several giant rocket launchers and a submarine-launched ballistic missile.

“True peace can be relied on, and national dignity and national sovereignty can be guaranteed through the powerful self-defense force that can defeat the enemy,” Kim said in a statement carried by the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA). ) after the parade. .

He said the first mission of his nuclear force was to “deter war,” but if someone tried to “take away the fundamental interests of our country, our nuclear force would have no choice but to carry out its second mission.” He did not elaborate on what that second mission would be.

Wednesday’s test is North Korea’s 13th of the year, including one on March 16 that is presumed to have failed.

By comparison, he ran just four tests in 2020 and eight in 2021.

Among the tests this year was the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on March 24, North Korea’s first test of that weapon in more than four years.

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