North Korea has declared its latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test was meant to demonstrate its capacity to launch a “fatal nuclear counterattack” against hostile forces. The state news agency KCNA reported that the surprise ICBM drill was conducted on an “emergency firepower combat standby order” given at dawn, followed by a written order from leader Kim Jong Un at 8am local time (23:00 GMT Friday).
The missile flew for 1 hour, 6 minutes and 55 seconds, reaching a height of 5,768km (3,584 miles) before accurately hitting a preset area 989km (615 miles) away in open waters. Japan said the missile had plunged into waters inside its exclusive economic zone.
Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un’s sister, said in a statement that North Korea would “take corresponding and very powerful and overwhelming counteraction against its every move hostile to us”. South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said the launch “clearly” signals Pyongyang’s intent to conduct additional provocations.
Ankit Panda, a missile expert at the Washington–based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the exercise was ordered day-of, without warning to the crew involved. He added that the amount of time between the order and the launch is likely going to be decreased with additional testing.
The state news agency reported that the military unit got an “excellent mark” over the drill and North Korea’s ruling party “highly appreciated the actual war capacity of the ICBM units which are ready for mobile and mighty counterattack”. Analysts believe North Korea is likely to conduct more weapons tests, including a possible new solid-fuel missile which could help Pyongyang deploy its missiles faster in the event of a war.
North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes are banned under UN Security Council resolutions, but Pyongyang says its weapons development is necessary to counter “hostile policies” by Washington and its allies. The latest ICBM test was seen as a warning to the US and South Korea ahead of upcoming military drills by the two countries.