The North Korean regime reported that it fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) hwasong-15 as part of a “sudden launch drill” which confirmed his readiness for a “mobile and powerful counter attackagainst hostile forces.
Pyongyang launched a long-range ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan on Saturday, as a “forceful response” to the upcoming military exercises by South Korea and the United States.
“The surprise mock launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (…) is a real test of the DPRK’s nuclear strength by making its nuclear counter-attack capability irresistible against hostile forces”stated the state news agency KCNA using the acronym of the official name of the country, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
In a separate statement, Kim Yo Jongsister of the North Korean dictator kim jong unlashed out at the United States for trying to turn the UN Security Council in what he called atool for his atrocious hostile politics” towards Pyongyang.
“I warn that we will monitor all the movements of the enemy and we will take the corresponding measures (…) against all their hostile movements towards us,” he said.
The missile test occurred after Pyongyang threatened an “unprecedentedly persistent and forceful” response on Fridayas South Korea and the United States prepare for annual military exercises as part of efforts to defend against growing nuclear threats from North Korea.
Kim Jong-un’s regime agency said that the missile flew 989 kilometers in 4,015 seconds, up to a maximum altitude of 5,768 kilometers before hitting accurately in a pre-established area in open water. He hwasong-15 was tested for the first time in 2017 in the midst of an escalation of verbal threats among Pyongyang and the then president of the United States Donald Trump.
The Japanese government had indicated on Saturday that the device flew 66 minutes and that it would have the capacity to travel 14,000 km, with which it could reach any point in the continental United States.
The North Korean regime’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs are prohibited by resolutions of the UN Security Councilbut Pyongyang claims that its weapons development is necessary to counter the “hostile policies” of Washington and its allies.
North Korea carried out a record number of missile launches last year, around fifty, in many cases in response to joint maneuvers by the allies and the deployment of US strategic assets on the peninsula.
(With information from Reuters)
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Source-www.infobae.com