North Korea has accomplished its greatest intercontinental ballistic missile test, according to S. Korea and Japan.
The South Korean military believes the missile has a range of more than 8,000 miles and can carry several warheads. It was launched from the Sunan airfield near Pyongyang, which had previously been utilized for ICBM tests on February 27 and March 5.
The missile went 670 kilometers east before crashing into Japanese territory. There have been no reports of property damage or injuries. In response, South Korea conducted a live-fire test of ballistic and tactical missiles, threatening to attack the location of any future North Korean launches.
The US and South Korea pushed the international community to make Pyongyang accountable.
The White House said: “This launch is a brazen violation of multiple UN security council resolutions and needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilising the security situation in the region.”
Makoto Oniki, Japan’s minister for defence, said, “Our current analysis indicates that the ballistic missile flew for 71 minutes and around 15.44 [6.44 GMT], it landed in waters within Japan’s exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan about 150 kilometres [90 miles] west of Hokkaido’s Oshima peninsula.
“At a time when the world is dealing with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korea is pressing ahead with launches that unilaterally aggravate provocations against the international community, which is absolutely unforgivable.”
South Korea and the United States have warned Pyongyang that it is contemplating a long-range test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile. This is the first launch since a missile thought to be a new intercontinental ballistic missile exploded last week after reaching an altitude of around 12 miles.
This weekend saw the North Koreans fire four rockets into the Yellow Sea from several launchers north of Pyongyang, a different path from Thursday’s missile’s trajectory.
During Kim’s denuclearization talks with Donald Trump, which ended without a conclusion in 2019, North Korea proclaimed a halt on ICBM and nuclear testing. Pyongyang issued veiled threats in January, implying that testing would restart.
North Korean missile technology is estimated to be capable of transporting a nuclear bomb as far as the US territory of Guam in the Pacific, but the regime is known to be working on systems that would bring the American mainland into range.
The test on Thursday will be the 12th of the year. Observers believe Pyongyang is attempting to pull the United States back to the negotiating table in order to relax economic sanctions. North Korean food shortages have been compounded by border closures caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Image Credit: Getty
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