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| ▲ This photo, released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency on April 14, 2023, shows the test-firing of the Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) and his daughter, known as Ju-ae, walk in front of a transporter erector launcher during the North's test of the Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile on April 13, 2023, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency on April 14, 2023, shows the third stage separation of the Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile during its test launch the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap) |
(3rd LD) N Korea-ICBM test
(3rd LD) N. Korea says it tested new solid-fuel ICBM for 1st time
(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; UPDATES with more details throughout)
By Chae Yun-hwan
SEOUL, April 14 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Friday it has test-fired a new solid-fuel Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time, with leader Kim Jong-un warning that the country's enemies will face "extreme uneasiness and horror."
The North launched the new ICBM on Thursday, guided by its leader, to confirm the performance of "high-thrust solid-fuel engines for multi-stage missiles," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The secretive regime described the new weapon as "the most powerful, pivotal and principal means" of war deterrence in defending itself. It did not reveal the missile's specifics, such as flight distance and maximum altitude.
South Korea's military said Thursday it detected the North's launch of an intermediate- or longer-range ballistic missile in the vicinity of Pyongyang into the East Sea. The missile, fired at a lofted angle, flew about 1,000 kilometers, it said.
The new ICBM will "radically promote the effectiveness of its nuclear counterattack posture and bring about a change in the practicality of its offensive military strategy," Kim was quoted as saying by the KCNA in an English-language dispatch.
While expressing "satisfaction" with the launch, the North's leader vowed that Pyongyang will "constantly strike extreme uneasiness and horror into its enemies by taking fatal and offensive counteractions," according to the KCNA.
The test marked the recalcitrant regime's latest apparent progress to develop a solid-fuel ICBM, which is one of the five major defense projects it put forward at a key party congress in January 2021.
Solid-fuel missiles are known to be harder to detect ahead of launch than liquid-propellant ones that require more prelaunch preparations, such as the injection of fuel.
In December, Pyongyang tested a solid-fuel engine for a new strategic weapon and displayed a new ICBM during its military parade in February, raising speculation that it could be a solid-propellant missile.
The KCNA said the latest test-firing also confirmed the "reliability of the stage-jettisoning technology and various functional control systems."
The first stage of the rocket flew on a standard trajectory, while the second and third stages traveled on a lofted one, which observers say appears intended to adjust its flight distance for a testing purpose.
Photos released by state media showed that Kim's daughter, known as Ju-ae, his wife Ri Sol-ju and his sister Kim Yo-jong attended the test. They also showed the stage separation of the missile and the Earth apparently taken from the missile in space.
Meanwhile, Seoul's defense ministry assessed the latest launch as a "mid-stage" test-firing to develop a solid-fuel long-range ballistic missile, adding that the North would need "additional time and effort" for its completion.
Observers said the North is expected to carry out more test launches of the Hwasong-18 to advance its solid-fuel and stage-separation technologies.
"Considering that it was the test-firing, there will be more rounds of additional launches in the future," Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said. "Although time is still needed for its completion, its speed of development appears to be considerably fast."
The latest launch came just days ahead of the 111th birthday of the late Kim Il-sung, the North's national founder and the current leader's grandfather, on Saturday.
It also came amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula as the North has not responded to routine cross-border calls through inter-Korean liaison and military communication lines since last Friday.
Pyongyang has recently conducted other major weapons tests, such as the launch of the Hwasong-17 ICBM on March 16 and what it claimed to be underwater nuclear attack drones, in protest against combined springtime military drills between South Korea and the United States.
The regime has decried the exercises as preparations for an invasion against it.
North Korea explains why its latest missile should strike fear into enemies[https://youtu.be/HvBzuyAB7VU]
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