Japan lodges stern protest against N.Korea's largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch

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Japan lodges stern protest against N.Korea's largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch​

Reuters
March 24, 2022

TOKYO, March 24 (Reuters) - Japan has lodged a stern protest against North Korea after Pyongyang fired what Tokyo believes is a new model of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Thursday.

Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Alex Richardson


 

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N.Korea returns to long-range launches with largest ICBM test

By Josh Smith
and Hyonhee Shin
March 24, 2022

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SEOUL, March 24 (Reuters) - North Korea conducted what is thought to be its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test ever on Thursday, militaries in South Korea and Japan said, marking a dramatic end to a self-imposed moratorium on long-range testing.

It would be the first full-capability launch of the nuclear-armed state's largest missiles since 2017, and represents a major step in the North's development of weapons that might be able to deliver nuclear warheads anywhere in the United States.


The North's return to major weapons tests also poses a new national security headache for U.S. President Joe Biden as he responds to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and presents a challenge to South Korea's incoming conservative administration.

Japanese authorities said the launch appeared to be a "new type" of ICBM that flew for about 71 minutes to an altitude of about 6,000km (3,728 miles) and a range of 1,100km (684 miles) from its launch site.


It landed inside Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), 170 km (106 miles) west of the northern prefecture of Aomori, at 3:44 p.m. (0644 GMT), the coast guard said.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff put the missile's maximum altitude at 6,200km and its range at 1,080km.

That is further and longer than North Korea's last ICBM test in 2017, when it launched a Hwasong-15 missile that flew for 53 minutes to an altitude of about 4,475km and range of 950km.


Thursday's ICBM launch prompted South Korea to test fire a volley of its own, smaller ballistic and air-to-ground missiles to demonstrate it has the "capability and readiness" to precisely strike missile launch sites, command and support facilities, and other targets in North Korea if necessary, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

South Korean deputy national security advisor Suh Choo-suk condemned the launch as "a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, and a reversal of the moratorium on ICBM launches, which North Korea had promised to the international community."

South Korea's JCS said the latest missile was launched from near Sunan, where Pyongyang's international airport is located. On March 16, North Korea launched a suspected missile from that airport that appeared to explode shortly after liftoff, South Korea's military said.

NEW ICBM?

U.S. and South Korean officials have warned recently that North Korea had been preparing to test fire its largest ICBM yet, the Hwasong-17.

U.S. officials said at least two recent tests, on Feb. 27 and March 5, featured the Hwasong-17 system, but did not demonstrate full ICBM range or capability.

Pyongyang did not identify the missile system used in those launches, but said they were testing components for a reconnaissance satellite system.

This month, leader Kim Jong Un said North Korea would soon launch multiple satellites to monitor military movements by the United States and its allies.

Thursday's launch would be at least the 11th North Korean missile test this year, an unprecedented frequency that has drawn condemnation from the United States, South Korea and Japan.

Analysts say the Hwasong-17 is "considerably larger" than the Hwasong-15. It was first unveiled in October 2020 and displayed a second time in October 2021.

The missile, which has been shown on a transporter vehicle with 11 axles, would be one of the world's largest road-mobile ICBMs.

'SERIOUS PROGRESS'

Amid a flurry of diplomacy in 2018, Kim declared a self-imposed moratorium on testing ICBMs and nuclear weapons, but suggested the North could resume such testing amid stalled denuclearisation talks.

That moratorium had often been touted as a success by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who held several historic summits with Kim in 2018 and 2019, but never gained a concrete pact to limit the North's nuclear or missile arsenals.

On Jan. 19, North Korea said it would bolster its defences against the United States and consider resuming "all temporally suspended activities", according to state news agency KCNA, an apparent reference to the self-imposed moratorium.

New construction has also been spotted at North Korea's only known nuclear test site, which was shuttered in 2018.

The looming prospect of possible nuclear tests, more joint U.S.-South Korea military drills, and the new conservative South Korean president mean "all conditions are present for a tit-for-tat chain reaction of escalatory steps," said Chad O'Carroll, CEO of Korea Risk Group, which monitors North Korea.

"Though Biden would prefer to focus exclusively on the Ukraine crisis, it's likely he will soon face crisis-level tensions between the Koreas," he said.

With the sanctions regime at an impasse at the U.N. Security Council and North Korea opposed to talks on denuclearisation for the foreseeable future, Pyongyang is now likely capable of making serious progress on its weapons development programme with little risk of substantive punishment, O'Carroll added.

 

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UNSC Fails to Issue Statement on N. Korea's ICBM Launch​

Politics Mar 26, 2022

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New York, March 25 (Jiji Press)--The U.N. Security Council failed at an emergency meeting on Friday to adopt a statement on North Korea's firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday.

While many member countries of the council condemned the ICBM launch and voiced concern over the action, China and Russia were negative about issuing a statement, a move that requires the council's unanimous approval.

The United States proposed a new UNSC resolution to update and strengthen sanctions against North Korea. Japan and South Korea, which are not council members now but attended the meeting as concerned parties, expressed their support for the U.S. proposal, so did Britain and France.

China and Russia opposed the proposal, while seeking support for their own motion to adopt a resolution to ease sanctions on North Korea.

Following the meeting, 15 countries including Japan, the United States and South Korea issued a joint statement condemning the North Korean ICBM launch.

 

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N Korea says ICBM will curb 'dangerous' US​

By Josh Smith
Updated March 26 2022 - 2:51am,

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been pictured applauding the launch of the ICBM Hwasongpho-17.

North Korea's latest launch was a big, new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), state media has reported, a test leader Kim Jong-un says was designed to demonstrate the might of its nuclear force and deter any US military moves.

Thursday's launch was the first full ICBM test by nuclear-armed North Korea since 2017.

Flight data indicated the missile flew higher and longer than any of North Korea's previous tests before crashing into the sea west of Japan.

What North Korea calls the Hwasong-17 would be the largest liquid-fuelled missile ever launched by any country from a road-mobile launcher, analysts say.

Its range and size suggest North Korea plans to tip it with multiple warheads that could hit several targets or with decoys to confuse missile defences, they say.

The leaders of the G7 countries and the European Union condemned North Korea's test as a "reckless" threat to peace and security and a danger to international civil aviation and maritime navigation.

They said it demanded a united response.

North Korea's last ICBM launches in 2017 prompted United Nations Security Council sanctions but council members are at odds over the Ukraine war, making such a response more difficult.

The Security Souncil is due to meet to discuss the launch later on Friday at the request of the United States and allies.

On Thursday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged North Korea "to desist from taking any further counter-productive actions".

Russia's RIA news agency quoted the Russian foreign ministry as saying that Russia and China had agreed to co-ordinate closely on the situation on the Korean peninsula.

"Concern was expressed over the latest developments in the sub-region" at a meeting between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov and China's representative for the Korean Peninsula, it said, adding that they emphasised the need to step up efforts towards fair political and diplomatic solutions for the problems of northeast Asia.

North Korean state media said Kim ordered the test because of "daily-escalating military tension in and around the Korean peninsula" and the "inevitability of the long-standing confrontation with the US imperialists accompanied by the danger of a nuclear war".


"The strategic forces... are fully ready to thoroughly curb and contain any dangerous military attempts of the US imperialists," Kim said while overseeing the launch.
It comes after the election of a new conservative South Korean administration that has pledged a more muscular military strategy towards North Korea.

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol said North Korea had nothing to gain from provocation.

In a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping after the launch, Yoon called for close co-ordination on North Korea's complete denuclearisation, his office said.
Xi said China and South Korea should bolster mutual political trust, Chinese state media said.

China, North Korea's sole major ally and neighbour, urged restraint on "all sides" after the test.

Kim said the test would help convince the world of the power of his strategic forces.

"Any forces should be made to be well aware of the fact that they will have to pay a very dear price before daring to attempt to infringe upon the security of our country," he said.

North Korean state media showed a massive missile, painted black with a white nose cone, rising on a column of flame from a launch vehicle.

It said the Hwasong-17 flew for 1090km to an altitude of 6,248.5km and hit a target in the sea, similar numbers to those reported by Japan and South Korea.

Kim, who the state broadcaster showed in video at the launch site dressed in a leather jacket and sunglasses, called it a "miraculous" and "priceless" victory for the Korean people.

 

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Global Times: N.Korea's latest test launch showcases capability in developing ICBMs as deterrent to US threat: analysts​

March 25, 2022 23:51 pm +08

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(March 25): North Korea tested a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasongpho-17 on Thursday test, showed that the country has gained capability in developing ICBMs and is working to have asymmetric military capability to deal with threats from the US and Japan, Global Times said.

The missile, launched at Pyongyang International Airport, traveled up to a maximum altitude of 6,248.5 kilometers and flew a distance of 1,090 kilometers for 4,052 seconds before accurately hitting the pre-set area in open waters of the East Sea of Korea, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Friday.

KCNA said that the new-type weapon system to be operated by the strategic forces of the DPRK "will creditably perform its mission and duty as a powerful nuclear war deterrent of putting under strict control the nuclear war threats and challenges against the DPRK, taking the initiative to cope with any military crisis and defending the security of the country," Global Times said.

The US, Japan and South Korea require North Korea to achieve denuclearization but at the same time threaten its security. The US has always put its own interests first and is attempting to form an Asian version of NATO in the Asia-Pacific region, leaving no peaceful and stable environment for regional countries, analysts said.

 

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1. liquid fueled? !!??
2. the only reason the US would '''infringe on the security'' is if NK infringes on SKs security ....
...I only see nukes being used if a country is about to be totally defeated and conquered--ie Germany WW2.....
.....most wars are contained ......
 

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