North Korea claims 'new tactical guided' missiles launched
North Korea has claimed the missiles it launched Thursday were a "new-type tactical guided projectile" in its first statement since the test. It was the country's first ballistic launch in almost a year and the first since Joe Biden became US President.
Mr. Biden has said the US would "respond accordingly." The US, Japan, and South Korea have condemned the tests. Under UN Security Council resolutions, North Korea is banned from testing ballistic missiles. The country's Friday statement, issued through state media outlet KCNA, says the two weapons struck a test target 600km (373 miles) off North Korea's east coast, disputing Japanese assessments that they flew just over 400km."The development of this weapon system is of great significance in bolstering up the country's military power and deterring all sorts of military threats," Ri Pyong Chol, the senior leader who oversaw the test, was quoted as saying. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was not present.
The statement added that the new missile could carry a payload of 2.5 tons, making it capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. But the recent messages warning the United States not to cause "a stink" and that the Biden administration would "pay the price" would suggest the North is making a point. South Korea's spy agency said it believed North Korea had timed the missile launch ahead of President Biden's press conference. It also claimed that Pyongyang was protesting against its citizen, Mun Chol Myong, from Malaysia to the US and the recent UN Human Rights Council resolution against North Korea.
Mr. Biden told reporters that the launch was a violation of UN resolutions and that the US was consulting with partners and allies.” There will be responses - if they choose to escalate, we will respond accordingly," he said. But I'm also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it has to be conditioned upon the result of denuclearisation. It remains unclear what exact type of missile the North Koreans have launched. The state media statement said it had an "improved version of a solid-fuel engine" and was capable of "low altitude gliding leap type flight mode."
The test highlights programme's progress since denuclearisation talks with the US stalled under former President Donald Trump. Analysts have suggested the missiles were the same as the ones unveiled at a military parade in the capital Pyongyang last October.” If that is the case, they appear to have an improved variant of the previously tested KN-23 missile with "a massive warhead," Jeffrey Lewis of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) told Reuters.
Such a new missile would allow North Korea to put heavier nuclear warheads on its rockets, Vipin Narang, a security studies professor at MIT, said on Twitter. North Korea last fired ballistic missiles a year ago amid stalled relations between then-US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The Biden administration says it has unsuccessfully tried to make diplomatic contact with North Korea.
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