North Korea launches a new intercontinental ballistic missile designed to threaten the US

Hyung-Jin Kim, Kim Tong-Hyung and Mari Yamaguchi
| Associated press

Seoul, South Korea – North Korea launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday in its first test in nearly a year of a weapon designed to threaten the US mainland, coming just days before the US election.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the missile test and was at the launch site, calling the launch “an appropriate military action” to demonstrate North Korea’s determination to respond to the moves of its enemies that threaten security of the North, according to the Ministry of Defense. .

The United States, South Korea and Japan had also identified the weapon as an ICBM and condemned the launch for raising tensions. The launch came as Washington warned that North Korean troops in Russian uniforms are moving toward Ukraine, likely to strengthen Russian forces and join the war.

North Korea confirmed the launch hours after its neighbors discovered the firing of what they suspected was a new, more agile weapon targeting the US mainland. The statement came unusually quickly because North Korea usually describes its weapons tests a day after they take place.

“I affirm that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will never change the line of strengthening its nuclear forces,” Kim said, according to a North Korean Defense Ministry statement carried by state media. North Korea stands for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea could have tested a new long-range ballistic missile. Missiles with built-in solid propellants are easier to move and conceal and can be launched faster than weapons with liquid propellants.

JCS spokesman Lee Sung Joon said the launch may have taken place just before the US elections, in an effort to strengthen North Korea’s future negotiating power. He said the North Korean missile was launched at a high angle, apparently to avoid neighboring countries.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters that the missile’s flight time of 86 minutes and maximum altitude of more than 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles) exceeded corresponding data from previous North Korean missile tests. Lee, the South Korean military spokesman, said South Korea made a similar assessment at Thursday’s launch.

KCNA said the flight characteristics of this launch were higher than those of previous rocket launches, but did not provide details on the differences.

US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett had called the launch “a blatant violation” of multiple UN Security Council resolutions that “unnecessarily increases tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region.” Savett said the US will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the American homeland and its South Korean and Japanese allies.

Both South Korea and Japan condemned the North Korean launch as a threat to international peace and said they are working closely with the US on the latest North Korean weapons test. Lee said South Korea and the US are planning “sufficient” bilateral military exercises and trilateral exercises involving Japan in response to North Korean threats.

Lee said the missile may have been fired from a 12-axis launch vehicle, the North’s largest mobile launch platform unveiled in September. The unveiling of the vehicle had sparked speculation that North Korea could develop an ICBM larger than the existing one.

North Korea has made progress in its missile technologies in recent years, but many foreign experts believe the country has yet to acquire a functioning nuclear-armed missile capable of striking the U.S. mainland. They say North Korea likely has short-range missiles capable of launching nuclear strikes across South Korea.

One of the technological hurdles North Korea still faces is ensuring its weapons will be able to survive the harsh conditions of reentry. South Korean officials and experts previously said North Korea may test an ICBM at a normal angle to verify that capability.

Lee said a high-angle launch like Thursday’s test cannot explore a rocket’s reentry vehicle technology. He said more analysis is needed to find out why North Korea did not conduct a standard trajectory launch on Thursday.

South Korea’s military intelligence told lawmakers on Wednesday that North Korea was about to fire a long-range missile that could reach the United States and had also likely completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test.

North Korea last tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in December 2023, when it launched the solid-fuel Hwasong-18.

Over the past two years, Kim has used Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an opportunity to increase weapons tests and threats while expanding military cooperation with Moscow. South Korea, the US and others recently accused North Korea of sending thousands of troops to support Russia’s war fighting against Ukraine. They say North Korea has already shipped artillery, missiles and other convective weapons to Russia.

North Korea’s possible participation in the war in Ukraine would represent a serious escalation. South Korea, the US and their partners are also concerned about what North Korea might get from Russia in exchange for joining Russia’s war against Ukraine. Aside from his soldiers’ pay, experts say Kim Jong Un is likely hoping for high-tech Russian technology that can perfect his nuclear-capable missiles and build a reliable space-based surveillance system. Kim may also want Russian fighter jets and could help modernize North Korea’s conventional weapons.