North Korean state media confirmed the launch of the missile, dubbed the Hwasong-18, on Friday morning.<\/p>\n
The event was supervised by Kim, who was accompanied by his wife, young daughter and powerful sister Kim Yo Jong.<\/p>\n
\u201cA new type of intercontinental ballistic missile was test fired on Thursday as the key means of strategic military force,\u201d the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, describing the test as a \u201cmiraculous success\u201d.<\/p>\n
The news agency cited Kim as saying the Hwasong-18 would rapidly advance North Korea\u2019s nuclear response posture and further support an aggressive military strategy that promises to maintain \u201cnuke for nuke and an all-out confrontation for an all-out confrontation\u201d against its rivals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Hwasong-18 weapons system to be run by the country\u2019s strategic forces would play its mission and role to defend (North Korea), deter invasions and preserve the country\u2019s safety as its most powerful method,\u201d KCNA said.<\/p>\n
Solid fuel missiles are safer to use, easier to manoeuvre and faster to deploy than liquid-propelled variants, which need to be loaded at the launch site and were a key part of a five-year arms development plan Kim unveiled in 2021.<\/p>\n
Last year, it tested a\u00a0record number of weapons<\/a>, including a high-thrust solid-fuel engine, and in February displayed what looked to be a new ICBM at a lavish night-time parade in Pyongyang.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a significant breakthrough for the North Koreans, but not an unexpected one,\u201d said Ankit Panda, an expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause these missiles are fuelled at the time of manufacture and are thus ready to use as needed, they will be much more rapidly useable in a crisis or conflict, depriving South Korea and the United States of valuable time that could be useful to preemptively hunt and destroy such missiles.\u201d<\/p>\n North Korea has pointed to large-scale military exercises between South Korea and the United States to justify its latest spate of tests, claiming such drills are rehearsals for invasion.<\/p>\n Washington and Seoul say their drills are defensive in nature and a result of North Korea\u2019s growing nuclear and missile threats.<\/p>\n The Hwasong-18 launch comes two days before the country commemorates the birth of founder Kim Il Sung, one of North Korea\u2019s most important holidays.<\/p>\n Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said the days of North Korea disguising ICBM activity as satellite launches were long-gone and that Kim\u2019s \u201cblatant violations\u201d of UN Security Council resolutions showed that his goal was to \u201cmake North Korea a full-fledged nuclear power and demand concessions from other countries\u201d.<\/p>\n Denuclearisation talks have been stalled since 2019 when a high-profile summit between Kim and then-US President Donald Trump collapsed.<\/p>\n The Hwasong-18, which KCNA described as a three-stage missile, was fired from near Pyongyang and flew for about 1,000km (621 miles) before falling into waters east of North Korea.<\/p>\n Seoul is closely analysing the launch but officials said they believed the launch was an early test and that developing the Hwasong-18 properly \u201cwould need additional time and effort\u201d.<\/p>\n That view was echoed by some analysts.<\/p>\n The missile is probably \u201cbe some way from credible deployment in any meaningful numbers\u201d, said Joseph Dempsey, a defence researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.<\/p>\n North Korea has fired about 30 missiles this year alone across 12 different launch events.<\/p>\n Kim has also ordered his military to intensify drills to prepare for a \u201creal war<\/a>\u201c.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fie.undef.edu.ar\/ceptm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/33D69UL-highres.webp\")