North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to accelerate his country’s nuclear development and warned Washington against making “bad decisions” after overseeing the launch of the country’s most powerful ballistic missile, state media said Tuesday . Pyongyang launched its Hwasong-18 ICBM (intercontinental) class missile on Monday, the third carried out by the country.
This comes a day after the arrival of the American submarine USS Missouri at the South Korean port of Busan, and after a warning on Saturday from Washington and Seoul that any nuclear attack by Pyongyang would bring about the end of the North Korean regime. The United States, South Korea and Japan also activated a real-time data sharing system on North Korean missile launches on Tuesday, as part of strengthening their cooperation in response to the growing nuclear threat from Pyongyang.
Kim Jong Un said Monday’s launch sent a “clear signal to hostile forces” and “set new important tasks for the development of the DPRK’s strategic nuclear forces,” according to North Korea’s KCNA news agency. “A test launch of Hwasongpho-18 ICBM was held as an important military operation to clearly demonstrate the overwhelming counterattack readiness of the DPRK strategic nuclear forces and their unmatched strength in the face of enemies,” the text emphasized, using the acronym of North Korea’s official name.
The North Korean leader, seen in the photos with his daughter in a pink fur jacket, also “set new important tasks for the development of the DPRK’s strategic nuclear forces,” added KCNA.
Record-breaking test series
The North Korean Hwasong-18 missile traveled just over 1,000 kilometers in horizontal distance and reached a maximum altitude of about 6,000 kilometers which demonstrated “the combat capability of the ICBM unit”, according to KCNA. The South Korean military said Monday that the launched ICBM used solid fuel, which makes the missiles easier to transport and allows for faster firings than liquid-fueled versions.
This is Pyongyang’s third firing of such an ICBM, following launches in April and July, which analysts say reflects continued efforts to improve the technology. Japan’s Defense Ministry said the Hwasong-18 had a potential range of more than 15,000 km, allowing it to potentially strike the entire US territory. Seoul and Washington have strengthened defense cooperation in the face of a record series of attacks. weapons tests carried out by Pyongyang this year.
South Korea’s conservative government of President Yoon Suk Yeol is also working to strengthen historically strained ties with Japan, which occupied the Korean peninsula during the first half of the 20th century.
“Irreversible” nuclear power
A North Korean Defense Ministry spokesperson on Sunday criticized Washington and Tokyo’s plan to step up their annual joint military exercises next year to include a nuclear exercise, calling the move “an open statement on nuclear confrontation. In November, North Korea successfully launched a military spy satellite into orbit that it says is already providing images of U.S. and South Korean military sites.
Last year, North Korea announced a new doctrine making its status as a nuclear power “irreversible”, and authorizing it to carry out a preventive atomic strike in the event of an existential threat against its regime. In September, its status as a nuclear state was also enshrined in its Constitution, while the regime considers nuclear capacity as essential to its survival. The United Nations Security Council has adopted numerous resolutions calling on North Korea to end its nuclear and ballistic missile programs since its first nuclear test in 2006. Sunday’s missile launch took place on the day of anniversary of the death of Kim Jong Il, father of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who died on December 17, 2011.