North Korea vows missile tests ‘any time, any place,’ defying US warnings
Sunday’s test shows level of performance never seen before from North Korea, says expert
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea said on Monday it had successfully conducted a mid- to-longrange missile test and would continue such launches “any time, any place,” defying UN Security Council resolutions and warnings from the US.
North Korea, which regularly threatens to destroy the United States in a sea of flames, has accused Washington of pushing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of nuclear war with recent military drills with South Korea and Japan.
The North’s KCNA news agency said Sunday’s test launch verified the homing feature of the warhead that allowed it to survive “under the worst reentry situation” and accurately detonate.
It also tested the North’s capability to carry a “largesize heavy nuclear warhead,” KCNA said.
“The test-fire proved to the full all the technical specifications of the rocket... like guidance and stabilization systems... and reconfirmed the reliability of new rocket engine under the practical flight circumstances,” KCNA said.
The test “represents a level of performance never before seen from a North Korean missile,” John Schilling, an aerospace expert, said in an analysis on the US-based 38 North website.
“It appears to have not only demonstrated an intermediate-range ballistic missile that might enable them to reliably strike the US base at Guam, but more importantly may represent a substantial advance to developing an intercontinental ballistic missile.”
The missile flew 787 km. on a trajectory reaching an altitude of 2,111.5 km., KCNA said.
North Korea has been developing a long-range missile capable of striking the mainland United States mounted with a nuclear warhead. That would require a flight of 8,000 km. or more and technology to ensure a warhead’s stable reentry into the atmosphere.
“The test-firing of ICBMs will occur at any time and place, at the will of North Korea’s highest leadership,” North Korea’s ambassador to China, Ji Jae Ryong, told reporters in Beijing on Monday, a day before the UN Security Council meets in New York to discuss the test.
North Korea has defied calls to curb its missile and nuclear weapons programs, testing its relationship with its lone major ally, China, which has always called for talks to resolve the issue, and prompting South Korea’s new president, Moon Jae-in, to “strongly condemn” Sunday’s action.
US President Donald Trump warned in an interview with Reuters this month that a “major, major conflict” with North Korea is possible. In a show of force, the United States sent an aircraft carrier strike group, led by the USS Carl Vinson, to waters off the Korean Peninsula to conduct drills with South Korea and Japan.
It says the “era of strategic patience” with North Korea is over.
North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper devoted half of its six-page Monday edition to coverage of the missile test, with vivid color photographs of the launch and jubilant leader Kim Jong-un celebrating with military officers.
The pictures featured a long nose-coned projectile that appeared to be similar to missiles displayed during an April 15 military parade for the birth anniversary of state founder Kim Il-sung, the current leader’s grandfather.
The nose cone resembles that of the KN-08 ICBM the North is believed to be developing, and the lofted trajectory tests reentry by putting the missile through extra stress, said Joshua Pollack of the US-based Nonproliferation Review. “This is an advanced missile, if their claims are true.”