North Korea has tested one of its most powerful ballistic missiles with a launch in the direction of the Sea of Japan, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing South Korean military sources. The flight of the missile was the longest and the altitude the highest ever reached by any other carrier tested by Pyongyang, denounced the Japanese Defense Minister, Gen Nakatani, according to whom it was an intercontinental ballistic missile that exceeded the 7 thousand kilometers of altitude and flew for an hour and 26 minutes. The missile it would be capable of hitting the United States.
The South Korean military recorded a launch that occurred from the Pyongyang region at around 7.10 this morning (local time), a few hours after Washington and Seoul’s appeal to North Korea to withdraw North Korean military forces from Russia, where they would have been deployed 10 thousand North Korean soldiers. Pyongyang has confirmed a “crucial” test as part of its intention to “strengthen its nuclear forces, under the supervision of Kim Jong Un”.
“This test fully meets the objective of informing our rivals of our intention to react“, said Kim at the time of the launch, quoted by the North Korean news agency KCNA as speaking of “appropriate military action”. The United States and its allies in the region have caused an escalation of tensions and “represent a threat” to North Korea’s security , he added.
The White House “strongly” condemned the launch as a “flagrant violation” of United Nations Security Council resolutions. North Korea tested another ICBM last year. The missile tested today would have fallen off the coast of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, 300 kilometers west of the island of Hokkaido.