Kim Jong Un said that he would expand his country’s nuclear war deterrent while preparing for “long-lasting confrontation” with America.
Thursday’s launch was the latest in a series of weapon demonstrations this year, which analysts believe are designed to force the United States into accepting North Korea’s status as a nuclear power. They also aim to remove crippling economic sanctions.
U.S. representatives spoke at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Friday. Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield stated that the U.S. will propose a resolution to “update and strengthen” Security Council sanctions. She did not specify the new measures.
She stated, “It is evident that remaining silent in the hope the DPRK will similarly show restraint is a failure strategy.” DPRK stands for Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea.
In 2006, the council imposed sanctions on the North after its first nuclear test explosion. They have been tightened over time. Last fall, Russia and China, both veto-wielding countries, called for the lifting of various sanctions against their neighbor.
Russian Deputy Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva stated that additional sanctions would only hurt North Korea’s people. Meanwhile, Zhang Jun, Chinese Ambassador, urged the council to “consider how to accommodate DPRK’s legitimate security concerns.”
He said that the U.S. had not done enough to respond to North’s 2018 self-imposed suspension of long-range nuclear missile tests. The U.S. needed to show its goodwill and work harder to stabilize the situation and resume dialogue.
North Korea did not speak at the council meeting. An email was sent to the U.N. mission requesting comment.
Ned Price, spokesperson for the State Department, said that the U.S. placed new sanctions against five individuals and entities in Russia and North Korea because they transferred sensitive items to North Korea’s missile program.
North Korean state television portrayed the missile testing process as a Hollywood movie. It showed Kim walking slowly in slow motion in front a huge missile wearing sunglasses and a motorcycle jacket made of black leather. Kim, along with military officials, are shown staring at their watches for a few seconds before removing his sunglasses and Kim is seen rolling the missile out of the hangar.
According to Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency, the Hwasong-17 was shot at an angle to avoid neighboring waters and flew 1,090 km (680 miles) in a 67-minute flight.
KCNA stated that the launch achieved its technical objectives. It also proved that the ICBM can be operated quickly in wartime conditions.
Analysts believe that similar flight details were provided by the Japanese and South Korean militaries. They suggested that the missile could reach targets at 15,000 km (9,320 miles) distance if fired on a normal trajectory using a warhead less than one ton. This would put the entire U.S. continent within striking distance.
The Hwasong-17, which is estimated to measure 25m (82ft) in length, is North Korea’s longest-range weapon. It also happens to be the largest road-mobile ballistic missile defense system. The missile was unveiled by North Korea in a military parade, October 2020. Thursday’s launch was the first full-range test.
KCNA paraphrased Kim saying that the new weapon would make “the whole world clearly aware of” the North’s nuclear-enhanced forces. His military would acquire “formidable military, technical and political capabilities, unperturbed or blackmailed by any military threat or blackmail, and remain fully prepared for long-term confrontation with the U.S imperialists.”
The photos show the missile leaving an orange trail as it rises from a launcher truck at Pyongyang’s airport runway. Kim smiled and clapped as he celebrated with military personnel from an observation deck.
Other images show Kim writing a memo ordering Hwasong-17’s test flight and applauding its launch. Kim has handwritten orders for some the most important weapons demonstrations under his rule, including the Hwasong-17 test flight in November 2017. This culminated a provocative run of missile and nuclear tests that prompted a verbal exchange with Donald Trump.
Although Thursday’s test was North Korea’s most impressive demonstration of its ICBM capabilities, experts questioned whether North Korea was concealing key information about the launch.
Colin Zwirko is a senior analyst for the North Korea-focused website NK Pro. He said that commercial satellite images suggest that North Korean state TV footage from the launch was probably shot on a different day. This raises the possibility of North Korea failing to conduct a Hwasong-17 missile test on March 16. South Korea’s military claimed it detected a missile exploding at the airport shortly after liftoff. The footage was then used by North Korea to show that it had tried to pass off footage from the failure on Thursday.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that unnamed military officers wondered if North Korea had launched the smaller Hwasong-15 with modifications to increase its range.
South Korea’s military responded with live-fire drills to the launch of its missiles from land and a fighter jet. It stated that it was ready to carry out precision strikes against North Korea’s missile launch sites as well as its command and support facilities.
Seoul’s Unification Ministry is responsible for inter-Korean affairs and has criticized the North for violating its own moratorium on ICBM testing.
Thursday’s test marked the 12th launch attempt by North Korea this year, and was also the most provocative since President Joe Biden’s election.
