US says North Korea testing new ICBM system
WASHINGTON, United States — Two recent missile tests conducted by North Korea were of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system, the Pentagon said Thursday, marking what one US official called a "serious escalation" that will be punished with fresh sanctions.
According to North Korea, the February 26 and March 4 tests were focused on developing a reconnaissance satellite, but the Pentagon said rigorous analysis concluded they were actually experimental precursors to a likely full-range ICBM launch.
Any such launch would mark the end of a self-imposed moratorium Pyongyang has had in place since 2017 and send military tensions soaring on the Korean peninsula and beyond.
The North has carried out three ICBM tests; the last in November 2017 of a Hwasong-15 — deemed powerful enough to reach Washington and the rest of the continental United States.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the recent two tests "involved a new intercontinental ballistic missile system" that Pyongyang had first showcased at a military parade in October 2020.
While neither launch displayed ICBM range or capability, they were clearly intended "to evaluate this new system before conducting a test at full range in the future, potentially disguised as a space launch," Kirby said.
Prior to its ICBM tests in 2017, the North had carried out a series of powerful rocket launches that it insisted were part of a wider civilian space program.
Those launches were made from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station on the northwest coast, and North Korea's official KCNA news agency reported Friday that leader Kim Jong Un visited the facility and ordered that it be expanded and modernized -– a move that will only fuel speculation of an imminent, disguised ICBM test.
North Korea is already under biting international sanctions over its missile and nuclear weapons program.
But a senior US official said that the latest tests were a "serious escalation" and the Treasury would announce fresh measures on Friday to help prevent Pyongyang accessing "foreign items and technology" to advance that program.
Such measures underline that the North's "unlawful and destabilizing activities have consequences" and that diplomatic negotiations are the only viable path forward for Pyongyang, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Kirby said Washington "remains committed to a diplomatic approach" but "will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the United States and our allies."
In Tokyo, the defense ministry said it had reached the same conclusion as Washington, adding that the February launch had an altitude of up to 600km (370 miles) and travelled about 300km, while the March launch had an altitude of up to 550km and also travelled about 300km.
It called the tests a "threat to peace and security... that can never be tolerated."
Nine weapons tests so far
When the new ICBM was unveiled at the 2020 parade, military analysts said it appeared to be the largest road-mobile, liquid-fueled missile anywhere in the world -- and likely designed to carry multiple warheads in independent re-entry vehicles (MIRVs).
North Korea watchers regularly caution that the devices Pyongyang puts on show at its parades may be mock-ups or models, and there is no proof they work until they are tested.
Pyongyang has been abiding by its moratorium on testing ICBMs and nuclear weapons since Kim embarked on a flurry of high-profile diplomatic engagement with then US president Donald Trump in 2017.
Talks later collapsed and diplomacy has languished ever since, despite efforts by the administration of US President Joe Biden to offer fresh negotiations.
The North started hinting in January that it might lift the moratorium, and it has conducted nine weapons tests this year, including of banned hypersonic and medium range ballistic missiles.
Pyongyang has also carried out several rocket launches that were condemned by the United States and others as disguised long-range ballistic missile tests.
A fresh ICBM launch would be an early challenge for South Korea's new president-elect, Yoon Suk-yeol, who has vowed to take a hard line with the North's provocations.
Yoon has not ruled out the possibility of dialogue with Pyongyang, but analysts say his hawkish position puts him on a completely different footing and significantly reduces the prospect of substantive engagement.
South Korean officials were briefing the White House Thursday on the outcome of their pathfinding meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Seoul has already publicized that North Korea offered talks with the United States on denuclearization and normalizing ties, a potential diplomatic opening after a year of escalating tensions over the North's nuclear and missile tests. The rival Koreas also agreed to hold a leadership summit in late April.
Top Trump administration officials were getting a chance to hear firsthand from South Korean national security director, Chung Eui-yong, who led the delegation that went to Pyongyang. — Associated Press
South Korea's defense ministry says Thursday it was "closely monitoring" a North Korean nuclear reactor site after local media reported its operations had been temporarily suspended, potentially to extract weapons-grade plutonium.
The Donga Ilbo newspaper reports earlier in the day that intelligence sources in Seoul and Washington had detected signs the five-megawatt reactor in Yongbyon had temporarily stopped operations late last month.
The suspension could be an indication that spent fuel rods are being reprocessed to extract plutonium for use in nuclear weapons, the report cited a government source as saying. — AFP
State media reports that North Korea's rubber-stamp legislature has enshrined the country's status as a nuclear weapons power in the constitution.
"The DPRK's nuclear force-building policy has been made permanent as the basic law of the state, which no one is allowed to flout with anything," leader Kim Jong Un said at a meeting of the State People's Assembly that was held Tuesday and Wednesday, the KCNA news agency says.
DPRK is the acronym for the country's formal name. — AFP
State news agency KCNA reports that North Korea announced it had built a "tactical nuclear attack submarine" as part of its effort to strengthen its naval force.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presided over the unveiling ceremony on Wednesday, saying the new sub was part of a "push forward with the nuclear weaponization of the Navy in the future", according to KCNA.
The launching of submarine No. 841, named the Hero Kim Kun Ok, "heralded the beginning of a new chapter for bolstering up the naval force of the DPRK", the KCNA report said, referring to the country by the abbreviation of its formal name. — AFP
State-controlled media reports Sunday that North Korea staged a "simulated tactical nuclear attack" drill at the weekend with mock atomic warheads attached to two long-range cruise missiles that were test-fired into the ocean.
The Korean Central News Agency says the operation early Saturday was a "counteraction drill" in response to joint military activity by US and South Korean forces that KCNA said has escalated tensions in the region.
"A firing drill for simulated tactical nuclear attack was conducted at dawn of September 2 to warn the enemies of the actual nuclear war danger," KCNA reports. — AFP
Seoul's military says North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles off its west coast on Saturday, the latest in a string of recent Pyongyang military actions.
The launches come three days after the North launched a pair of short-range ballistic missiles as part of a "tactical nuclear strike drill" prompted by the annual US-South Korean Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises, which always infuriate the reclusive regime.
Pyongyang views such the drills as a rehearsal for invasion while the two allies say they are defensive in nature. — AFP
- Latest
- Trending
