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| North Korea Claims It Has Tested a New Type of ICBM Missile |
Pyongyang - North Korea said that it conducted a test launch of a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Friday. This was reported by North Korea's official KCNA news agency. KCNA claimed that the "new" missile was a Hwasong-17 and said that the missile was launched from Pyongyang International Airfield and flew 999.2 km.
KCNA also released several images of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who reportedly oversaw the launch. After directly overseeing the launch, Kim Jong-un said that North Korea must clearly demonstrate the strongest will to retaliate against the enemy's war games that seek to destroy peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the region.
Kim Jong-un appears to be referring to the US and South Korean war games. He also warned that the country would take more offensive countermeasures if the US made a military crackdown on the Korean Peninsula and the surrounding area. "Kim Jong-un solemnly stated that if the enemy continues to pose threats to the DPRK, frequently introducing means of nuclear strikes, our Party and government will resolutely react to nuclear with nuclear weapons and total confrontation with all-out confrontation," KCNA said. , using North Korea's official acronym, namely the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as quoted by CNN, Saturday (19/11/2022).
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the ICBM was launched at around 10:15 a.m. local time from the Sunan area, North Korea's capital, Pyongyang. According to JCS, the ICBM was traveling at 22 times the speed of sound, adding that details were being analyzed by intelligence authorities in South Korea and the US.
Meanwhile Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the missile may have hit Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), about 210 kilometers west of the Japanese island of Oshima Oshima, according to the Japan Coast Guard. The missile did not fly over Japan. "North Korea continues to carry out provocative actions with a frequency never seen before," Kishida told reporters Friday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.
"I want to restate that we cannot accept such actions," he continued. "The Japanese government will continue to collect and analyze information and provide updates to the public soon, he said. So far, there have been no reports of ship damage at sea," Kishida added.
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said it could potentially reach the US mainland. "The ICBM-class ballistic missile launched this time can have a range of more than 15,000 km if calculated based on the flight distance of this ICBM," Hamada said in a statement. "It depends on the weight of the warhead, but in that case, the US mainland would be included in range," he added.
This is not the first time North Korea has launched an ICBM that experts and officials say could theoretically reach the US. The missile launched on Friday was shorter in altitude and range than Pyongyang's March 24 missile test, which recorded the highest altitude and longest duration of any missile North Korea has ever tested, according to a KCNA report at the time. KCNA reported the missile reached an altitude of 6,248.5 kilometers and flew 1,090 kilometers.