ISLAMABAD 13 April (Online); North Korea on Thursday conducted its first intercontinental ballistic missile launch in a month, possibly testing a new type of more mobile, harder-to-detect weapons system, its neighbours said, in an extension of the North\u2019s provocative run of missile tests.<\/p>\n
The launch prompted Japan to issue an evacuation order on a northern island, and though it was later retracted, it shows the vigilance of North Korea\u2019s neighbours over its evolving missile threats.<\/p>\n
South Korea\u2019s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile launched on a high angle from near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang and fell in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan following a 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) flight.<\/p>\n
The Joint Chiefs of Staff described the missile as having a medium or long range. The United States National Security Council called it a long-range missile and Japan\u2019s defence minister an ICBM-class weapon.<\/p>\n
South Korea\u2019s military believes North Korea launched a new type of ballistic missile, possibly using solid fuel, a defence official said under anonymity because of office rules.<\/p>\n
If the launch involved a solid-fuel ICBM, it would be the North\u2019s first test of such a weapon. North Korea’s known ICBMs all use liquid propellant systems that require them to be fueled before launches.<\/p>\n
But the fuel in a solid propellant weapon is already loaded inside, allowing them to be moved more easily and fired more quickly.<\/p>\n
A solid-propellant ICBM is one of the key high-tech weapons that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to build to better cope with what he calls US military threats. <\/p>\n
Other weapons he wants to acquire are a multi-warhead missile, a nuclear-powered submarine, a hypersonic missile and a spy satellite.<\/p>\n
Japanese officials earlier confirmed the missile had not fallen within the country’s territory and posed no threat to residents.<\/p>\n
South Korea and Japan typically do not issue evacuation orders for North Korean launches unless they determine weapons flew in the direction of their territories.<\/p>\n
Climate and environment ministers from the Group of Seven are due to meet this weekend in Sapporo, Hokkaido’s regional capital, a month before the group holds its summit in Hiroshima.<\/p>\n
The United States said it “strongly condemns” North Korea for what the White House described as the test of a “long-range ballistic missile,” as it accused Pyongyang of inflaming regional tensions.<\/p>\n
The launch is the latest in a string of banned weapons tests conducted by Pyongyang, which has already fired several of its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles this year.<\/p>\n
It has also tested what its state media has claimed are nuclear-capable underwater drones (known as Haeil, or tsunami in Korean) which it says are capable of unleashing a “radioactive tsunami”.<\/p>\n
On Monday, North Korean leader Kim attended a meeting of the Central Military Commission to discuss ways to “cope with the escalating moves of the US imperialists and the South Korean puppet traitors to unleash a war of aggression”, Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency said.<\/p>\n
South Korean broadcaster YTN, citing a military official, said the test launch apparently involved a new weapons system displayed at recent North Korean military parades.<\/p>\n
South Korea’s military was analysing the projectile’s trajectory and range, and was not ruling out that it could have been a solid-fuel missile.<\/p>\n
North Korea has been working to build more solid-fuel missiles, which are easier to store and transport, and can be launched with almost no warning or preparation time.<\/p>\n
The South Korean military said it was on high alert and coordinating closely with the United States.<\/p>\n
North Korea has criticised recent joint military exercises between US and South Korean forces as escalating tensions, stepping up its weapons tests in recent months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD 13 April (Online); North Korea on Thursday conducted its first intercontinental ballistic missile launch in a month, possibly testing a new type of more mobile, harder-to-detect weapons system, its neighbours said, in an extension of the North\u2019s provocative run of missile tests. The launch […]<\/p>\n
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