North Korean state media said Thursday that dictator Kim Jong-un had overseen the launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) dubbed Hwasong-18 the day before to blackmail and coerce the United States and South Korea. confirmed. cease military activity.
“Increasing series of military attacks [sic] Will be fired until US imperialists and Confederates attack [sic] The South Korean puppet traitor concedes a shameful defeat,” pledged the Pyongyang regime’s flagship media outlet, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), in announcing the purported successful Hwasong-18 launch.
Korean news agency unionciting ballistics experts, reported on Thursday that the missile’s range appears to allow it to target “the entire continental United States.”
South Korean, Japanese and American military personnel Confirmed A missile believed to be an ICBM was launched on Wednesday. The missile flew for just over an hour before crashing into Japanese territorial waters near the northernmost island of Hokkaido, according to Japan’s defense ministry. The missile launch appears to have been timed to disrupt various meetings of South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. South Korea is not a member of NATO, nor is Prime Minister Fumio Kishida or Japan, who attended the summit, but it maintains a partnership with a military alliance that Yoon has expanded through a series of intelligence-sharing agreements that have been strengthened this week. .
NATO members focused much of the summit on Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to attend. However, Yun used the platform to raise further concerns about communist North Korea’s illegal nuclear weapons programme, stating that North Korea’s possession of intercontinental ballistic missiles would mean that North Korea would be able to use the European Union if it wanted to. He warned that it meant a likely nuclear attack on most of them.
“North Korean nuclear missiles are a real threat that could hit not only Vilnius but also Paris, Berlin and London,” Yoon said. warned on wednesday. “We must come together more strongly, condemn and respond with one voice.”
File/In this handout image released by the South Korean Ministry of Defense, the U.S. Air Force’s B-52H Strategies fly alongside South Korean Air Force F-35A fighter jets during a closed-door joint air exercise on April 14, 2023. A bomber (above) is shown. The location is South Korea. A day after North Korea tested a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), South Korea and the United States conducted joint aviation exercises involving at least one B-52H strategic bomber. (Korea Ministry of Defense via Getty Images)
The communist North Korean regime appears to have bolstered those concerns with its claims this week of its first successful Hwasong-18 test, a test that could lead to a “nuclear crisis” that North Korea allegedly single-handedly caused. He called it “another major event” that was necessary to do so. usa.Dictator Kim Jong Un, KCNA claimedpersonally tutored the test.
“At that moment, a huge explosion that announced the reality of a strategic weapon full of our power and technology exploded while shaking the entire earth, and a huge object soared into the sky and blew a shower of fire,” the KCNA said. added. The experiment “did not adversely affect the security of neighboring countries.”
After the test, the North Korean news agency reported that Kim was “happy to say that this final success has fully proved the strength of North Korea.” [North Korea] It is fully equipped with a robust nuclear deterrent for self-defense. “
“War deterrence” is North Korea’s euphemism for its illegal nuclear weapons program.
Kim also argued that North Korea “sees no change or faltering” in its efforts to “steadily accelerate the development of more advanced, effective and reliable weapons systems.”
KCNA claimed that its relationship with the United States was “nearing an intolerable tipping point” requiring further nuclear weapons development. He claimed that the United States had “a plan to openly discuss the use of nuclear weapons against our country” and was moving step by step toward an “unprecedented nuclear war.” North Korea has spent much of this week complaining about two specific US moves. USS Michigan, a nuclear submarine in Busan, South Korea. It also claims to fly “air espionage” into North Korean airspace, but the South Korean government denies this.
According to the North Korean state report, Mr Kim said Wednesday that “the US imperialists and their South Korean vassals will be forced to accept a series of scandals in despair and yield to the shameful defeat of their futile hostile policy towards North Korea.” A powerful military offensive will be launched,” he said. Strengthen their policies. “
South Korean news agency Yonhap News claimed Mars 18 “1,001.2 kilometers” [about 622 miles] Flew for 4,491 seconds at a maximum altitude of 6,648.4 km [about 4,131 miles]before landing precisely in a pre-established area of Tokai [Sea of Japan]He said the trip was a “notable improvement” for North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missiles. South Korean officials seem to have confirmed that the Hwasong-18 is a solid-fuel missile rather than a liquid-fuel model, saying it is “difficult to detect before launch and requires more preparation before launch than liquid-fuel models.” I will inject fuel.”
“Hwasong-18” is the successor to “Hwasong-17,” and Kim made his debut in March 2022 with a photo shoot apparently inspired by the American “Hwasong-17.” top gun The film series showed the dictator wearing a black leather jacket and sunglasses, marching in front of an intercontinental ballistic missile. North Korean propagandists used subsequent Hwasong-17 probes to unveil Kim’s daughter, believed to be about 13 years old, to the public at the end of 2022 under the name Kim Ju-ae.
Kim Jong-un and soldiers pose in front of Hwasong-17 in early 2022 (Photo: KCNA/North Korea/UPI)
The debut of a new intercontinental ballistic missile does not necessarily mean that North Korea will stop testing the older model. North Korea conducted an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch exercise in February, but South Korean experts believe that an older model of this missile, the Hwasong-15, was used, and its performance was comparable to that of the latest model at the time. It is reported that it did not change much from No. 17. The missiles also regularly appear in North Korea’s massive communist parades, where public participation is mandatory. North Korea is reportedly planning a major event on July 27, 1953 to mark the signing of a ceasefire agreement that would end active hostilities in the Korean War. Although the day is designated as Victory Day, no political party participates in it because the war is not technically over. Won.
An alleged intercontinental ballistic missile is displayed during a military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean army at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, February 8, 2023. (Korea Central News Agency/Korea News Agency, Associated Press))
The US National Security Council (NSC) issued a statement on Thursday condemning the launch of Hwasong-18.
“This launch is a blatant violation of multiple regulations.” [United Nations] Security Council resolutions risk unnecessarily escalating tensions and destabilizing the security situation in the region,” NSC spokesman Adam Hodge said Thursday. according to To Korea JoongAng Ilbo, a Korean newspaper. The NSC called on North Korea to “immediately cease its destabilizing actions and instead opt for diplomatic engagement.”
North Korea has largely rejected diplomatic engagement with the administration of left-leaning President Joe Biden. Early in his presidency, North Korean officials openly boasted that they would ignore attempts to contact Washington. Before taking office, North Korea recommended that Biden be “beaten to death as soon as possible.”
