North Korea fired an unidentified projectile on Wednesday that apparently missed shortly after launch, South Korea’s military announced, as analysts warned the country may have tested a missile. intercontinental.
The launch, North Korea’s 10th since the start of the year, came after the US government warned Pyongyang was preparing to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) “at full range” for the first time since 2017.
“North Korea fired an unidentified projectile from the Sunan area around 9:30 am today (9:30 pm GMT on Tuesday), but it is assumed to have missed immediately after launch,” the General Staff said. South Korea set in a statement.
Japanese media also reported that North Korea had launched a possible ballistic missile, citing an anonymous source in the Defense Ministry.
Japanese channel NHK said senior government officials had met in Prime Minister Fumio Kishid’s office to discuss the situation.
This would be Pyongyang’s 10th weapons test in 2022, following the launch of seven missiles and two devices that North Korea described as “reconnaissance satellites”.
Seoul and Washington said last week that the shootings were part of a new intercontinental ballistic missile system that had never been tested.
North Korea is already under international sanctions for its missile and nuclear weapons programs, but the US government has threatened additional punishment for these new tests.
Pyongyang wants an ICBM capable of carrying multiple warheads, and Washington last week warned that the tests in recent months represent a “serious escalation” of the weapons program.
– Monster missile? –
The North has carried out three ICBM tests, the most recent in November 2017 with a Hwasong-15, considered powerful enough to hit US territory.
But the country has adhered to a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range weapons testing since 2017, when leader Kim Jong Un began diplomatic moves, including a failed dialogue with then-President Donald Trump.
“Signals indicate that the North today (Wednesday) fired a Hwasong-17,” Cheong Seong-chang, a researcher at the Sejong Institute, told AFP.
The projectile was first presented at a military parade in October 2020 and has been called by analysts a “monster missile”.
According to Cheong, international political tension makes it “unlikely that Russia will accept additional sanctions against the North if the country executes such a test, due to the invasion of Ukraine, so Pyongyang seems to have considered the right time to proceed.”
The launch failure will be examined by Pyongyang and the North Korean regime may need three more tests to ensure the missile works, the researcher said.
“I believe the North will do one or two test launches by April 15th,” he added.
North Korea will celebrate the 110th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the country’s founder, in April, and the current leader often commemorates important dates with military parades or weapons tests.
Professor Ahn Chan-il, an expert on North Korea, told AFP that the failure of Wednesday’s launch is an indication that it was “no ordinary missile”.
He added that the timing is important because it coincides with the presidential transition in South Korea and the war in Ukraine.
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