SEOUL, South Korea In its second significant weapons test this month; North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that touched down close to Japanese waters on Friday. This test indicated a potential capability to carry out nuclear attacks across the U.S. mainland. According to a PA News report.
Although it is unknown whether North Korea has nuclear-armed missiles in operation, some experts claim that Friday’s launch contained the country’s longest-range missile, which is still in development and is intended to carry several nuclear warheads to get past American missile defense systems.
With its latest barrage of weapons tests, North Korea hopes to strengthen its nuclear arsenal and gain more favorable concessions in future negotiations. It happens when China and Russia oppose American efforts to tighten U.N. sanctions intended to stop North Korea’s nuclear development.
The launch was swiftly denounced by the U.S., which also threatened to take “all necessary steps” to ensure the safety of its soil and those of its allies, Japan and South Korea. To discuss the launch, Vice President Kamala Harris met with the leaders of those nations, as well as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, who is in Bangkok for a regional summit.
“We again urge North Korea to discontinue its illegal and unstable behavior. At the beginning of the meeting, Harris declared, “On behalf of the United States, I reaffirm our unwavering commitment to our Indo-Pacific relationships. The nations participating here will cooperate to press North Korea to engage in honest and persistent diplomacy.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea claimed to have discovered the ICBM launch from the capital region of North Korea at roughly 10:15 a.m. According to Japan, it seemed to fly on a high trajectory and land west of Hokkaido.
According to estimations from South Korea and Japan, the missile’s most significant altitude was between 6,000 and 6,100 kilometers during its flight of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) (3,600-3,790 miles).
According to Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, the missile could reach the entire mainland of the United States if it had a range of more than 15,000 kilometers (9,320 miles), depending on the weight of a prospective warhead.
A former professor at Korea National Defense University, Kwon Yong Soo, believes North Korea tested a Hwasong-17 missile under construction. According to him, the rocket can carry three to five nuclear bombs and travel up to 15,000 kilometers (9,320 miles).
Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15, two further ICBMs owned by North Korea, were tested in 2017 and were shown to be capable of reaching all or portions of the U.S. homeland. According to Kwon, North Korea needs a longer-range missile, like the Hwasong-17, that can fly a longer route to the American mainland to get through the present U.S. missile defense systems.
It is unknown just how advanced North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs are.
According to Chang Young-Keun, a missile expert at Korea Aerospace University in South Korea, North Korea has demonstrated that its missiles have ICBM-class flight ranges. Still, it has yet to publicly show that its warheads can withstand the challenging conditions of atmospheric reentry. According to some experts, North Korea has probably acquired these technologies.
Chang stated that Friday’s launch was successful and that the flight parameters showed it to be the same kind of missile that North Korea fired in March when North Korea insisted it had launched a Hwasong-17 while South Korea insisted it had been a Hwasong-15.
The launch, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, Adrienne Watson, “needlessly escalates tensions” and demonstrates that North Korea is placing its illegal weapons programs above the welfare of its citizens. Watson urged Pyongyang to stop its disruptive activities immediately and opt for diplomatic engagement.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida referred to the launch as “utterly unacceptable” in his opening remarks at the summit in Bangkok and said that the missile fell within Japan’s exclusive economic zone west of Hokkaido. According to South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the international community must come together to convince North Korea that each of its provocations only worsens its economic plight and isolation from the rest of the world.
