It would be the first full-capability launch of the nuclear-armed state\u2019s largest missiles since 2017
\n SEOUL
\nNorth Korea conducted what is thought to be its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test ever on Thursday, the South Korean and Japanese militaries said, marking a dramatic end to a self-imposed moratorium on long-range testing.
\nIt would be the first full-capability launch of the nuclear-armed state\u2019s largest missiles since 2017, and represents a major step in the North\u2019s development of weapons that might be able to deliver nuclear warheads anywhere in the United States.
\nThe North\u2019s return to major weapons tests also poses a new national security headache for US President Joe Biden as he responds to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, and presents a challenge to South Korea\u2019s incoming conservative administration.
\n\u201cThis launch is a brazen violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilising the security situation in the region,\u201d White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement condemning the launch.
\n\u201cThe door has not closed on diplomacy, but Pyongyang must immediately cease its destabilising actions.\u201d
\nNorth Korea had put its ICBM and nuclear tests on hold since 2017, but has defended the weapons as necessary for self-defence, and said US diplomatic overtures are insincere as long as Washington and its allies maintain \u201chostile policies\u201d such as sanctions and military drills.
\nSouth Korea\u2019s outgoing President Moon Jae-in, who made engaging North Korea a major goal of his administration, condemned the launch as \u201ca breach of the moratorium on ICBM launches that Chairman Kim Jong Un himself promised to the international community\u201d.
\nIt was also a serious threat to the Korean peninsula, the region and the international community, and a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions, added Moon, who is due to leave office in May.
\nThe latest missile launch was an \u201cunacceptable act of violence\u201d, Japanese Prime Minster Fumio Kishida said.
\nThursday\u2019s ICBM launch prompted South Korea to test-fire a volley of its own, smaller ballistic and air-to-ground missiles to demonstrate it has the \u201ccapability and readiness\u201d to precisely strike missile launch sites, command and support facilities, and other targets in North Korea if necessary, South Korea\u2019s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
\nUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone with counterparts in Japan and South Korea after the launch. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said they had agreed that North Korea\u2019s move represented a clear and grave challenge to the international community.
\nBlinken and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong called for a decisive response and agreed that additional measures by the UN Security Council were essential, South Korea\u2019s foreign ministry said in a statement.
\nNew ICBM?
\nThursday\u2019s launch would be at least the 11th North Korean missile test this year, an unprecedented frequency.
\nJapanese authorities said the launch appeared to be a \u201cnew type\u201d of ICBM that flew for about 71 minutes to an altitude of about 6,000km (3,728 miles) and a range of 1,100 km (684 miles) from its launch site.
\nIt landed inside Japan\u2019s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), 170 km (106 miles) west of the northern prefecture of Aomori, at 3:44 p.m. (0644 GMT), the coast guard said.
\nSouth Korea\u2019s Joint Chiefs of Staff put the missile\u2019s maximum altitude at 6,200 km and its range at 1,080 km.
\nThat is further and longer than North Korea\u2019s last ICBM test in 2017, when it launched a Hwasong-15 missile that flew for 53 minutes to an altitude of about 4,475 km and range of 950 km.
\nSouth Korea\u2019s JCS said the latest missile was launched from near Sunan, where Pyongyang\u2019s international airport is located. On March 16, North Korea launched a suspected missile from that airport that appeared to explode shortly after liftoff, South Korea\u2019s military said.
\nUS and South Korean officials have warned recently that North Korea had been preparing to test-fire its largest ICBM yet, the Hwasong-17.
\nUS officials said at least two recent tests, on Feb. 27 and March 5, featured the Hwasong-17 system, but did not demonstrate full ICBM range or capability.
\nPyongyang did not identify the missile system used in those launches, but said they were testing components for a reconnaissance satellite system.
\nThis month, leader Kim said North Korea would soon launch multiple satellites to monitor military movements by the United States and its allies.
\nAlso read: N.Korea boasts of \u2018shaking the world\u2019 by testing missiles that can strike US
\nAnalysts say the Hwasong-17 is \u201cconsiderably larger\u201d than the Hwasong-15, and would be one of the world\u2019s largest road-mobile ICBMs. It was first unveiled in October 2020 and displayed a second time in October 2021.
\n\u2018Serious progress\u2019
\nAmid a flurry of diplomacy in 2018, Kim declared a self-imposed moratorium on testing ICBMs and nuclear weapons, but later suggested the North could resume such testing amid stalled denuclearisation talks.
\nThat moratorium had often been touted as a success by former US President Donald Trump, who held historic summits with Kim in 2018 and 2019, but never gained a concrete pact to limit the North\u2019s nuclear or missile arsenals.
\nNew construction has also been spotted at North Korea\u2019s only known nuclear test site, which was shuttered in 2018.
\nThe looming prospect of possible nuclear tests, more joint US-South Korea military drills, and the new conservative South Korean president mean \u201call conditions are present for a tit-for-tat chain reaction of escalatory steps\u201d, said Chad O\u2019Carroll, CEO of Korea Risk Group, which monitors North Korea.
\n\u201cThough Biden would prefer to focus exclusively on the Ukraine crisis, it\u2019s likely he will soon face crisis-level tensions between the Koreas,\u201d he said.
\nWith the sanctions regime at an impasse at the UN Security Council and North Korea opposed to talks on denuclearisation for the foreseeable future, Pyongyang is now likely capable of making serious progress on its weapons development programme with little risk of substantive punishment, O\u2019Carroll added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It would be the first full-capability launch of the nuclear-armed state\u2019s largest missiles since 2017 SEOUL North Korea conducted what is thought to be its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test ever on Thursday, the South Korean and Japanese militaries said, marking a dramatic end to a self-imposed moratorium on long-range testing. It would be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-251161","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n