NNorth Korea said it fired its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Hwasong-17, on Thursday in a harsh response to ongoing military exercises between the United States and South Korea. In a speech, leader Kim Jong-un stressed the need to “terrify the enemy by irrevocably strengthening nuclear war deterrence,” he was quoted as saying by the state news agency KCNA.
Photos released by state media show Kim watching the launch of the rocket with his daughter. Images from space were also seen, apparently taken by a camera mounted on the rocket.
Rocket flew 1000 kilometers
North Korea detonated the ICBM just hours before a summit meeting between South Korea and Japan in Tokyo. The Hwasong-17 crashed after about 1,000 kilometers into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, according to the South Korean General Staff. South Korea and Japan then convened a meeting of the National Security Council and condemned the rocket launch as a serious act of provocation that threatened international peace.
The United States also condemned North Korea’s recent test. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol instructed the military to conduct the exercises with the United States as planned. South Korean and American forces began large-scale, 11-day joint exercises dubbed Freedom Shield 23 on Monday.
Nuclear-armed North Korea has launched an unprecedented number of missiles over the past year, including ICBMs that can reach the US. At the same time, the closed country has resumed preparations for its first nuclear test since 2017. North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs are banned by UN Security Council resolutions.
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