North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to develop more powerful means of attack, Pyongyang said yesterday, days after the country’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch in more than four years.
The statement suggests North Korea might perform additional launches or even test a nuclear device soon as it pushes to modernize its arsenal and increase pressure on US President Joe Biden’s administration while nuclear diplomacy remains stalled.
On Thursday, North Korea performed its 12th round of weapons tests this year, launching the newly developed, long-range Hwasong-17, which analysts say was designed to reach anywhere in the US mainland.
Photo: AP
During a photography session with scientists and others involved in the Hwasong-17 test, Kim expressed a resolve to build up the country’s attack capability to cope with threats, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
“Only when one is equipped with the formidable striking capabilities, overwhelming military power that cannot be stopped by anyone, one can prevent a war, guarantee the security of the country and contain and put under control all threats and blackmails by the imperialists,” KCNA quoted Kim as saying.
Kim said that North Korea would develop more “powerful strike means,” and also expressed his conviction and expectation that his country would “more vigorously perfect the nuclear war deterrence of the country,” KCNA said.
North Korea said the Hwasong-17 flew to a maximum altitude of 6,248km and traveled 1,090km during a 67-minute flight before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
Outside experts said that if the missile is fired on a standard trajectory, flatter than the steep test angle, it could fly as far as 15,000km, enough to reach anywhere in the US mainland and beyond.
Believed to be about 25m long, the Hwasong-17 is North Korea’s longest-range weapon and, by some estimates, the world’s biggest road-mobile ballistic missile system. Its size suggests the missile is meant to carry multiple nuclear warheads, given that North Korea already has single-warhead ICBMs that could also hit most of the US.
US-led diplomacy aimed at convincing North Korea to denuclearize in return for economic and political benefits largely has stalled since 2019. The Biden administration has urged North Korea to return to talks without any preconditions, but Pyongyang has said that Washington must drop its hostility first and has taken steps to expand its weapons arsenals.
Some experts say Kim could soon conduct another ICBM launch, a launch of a satellite-carrying rocket or a test of a nuclear device as he works to perfect his weapons technology, dial up pressure on the US and secure stronger internal royalty.
South Korea yesterday reiterated a previous assessment that there are signs that North Korea is restoring previously demolished tunnels at its underground nuclear testing site.
South Korean Ministry of Unification spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said that a nuclear test by North Korea would pose “a serious threat” to international security and that it must halt any related acts immediately and return to talks.
The Hwasong-17 liftoff was North Korea’s most serious weapons launch since it tested a previously developed ICBM in November 2017. Its previous nuclear test, its sixth overall, was in September 2017.
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
RSS