North Korea claims to have successfully tested a brand-new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
The disclosure portends a potential success in the covert regime’s pursuit of a more potent, harder-to-detect weapon that can strike the US mainland.
The information was released by its official Korean Central News Agency a day after a long-range missile launch from close to Pyongyang created concern in Japan.
Leader Kim Jong-un, who personally guided the test, warned the Hwasong-18 – the most powerful missile in his nuclear arsenal – would ‘strike extreme uneasiness and horror’ into the country’s enemies.
He said the weapon would cause them to ‘experience a clearer security crisis, and constantly strike extreme uneasiness and horror into them by taking fatal and offensive counter-actions until they abandon their senseless thinking and reckless acts’.
Kim also hit out once again at the recent military drills carried out by the US and South Korea.
KCNA released photos of him watching the launch, accompanied by his wife, sister and daughter, and the missile covered in camouflage nets on a mobile launcher.
‘The development of the new-type ICBM Hwasongpho-18 will extensively reform the strategic deterrence components of the DPRK, radically promote the effectiveness of its nuclear counterattack posture and bring about a change in the practicality of its offensive military strategy,’ KCNA said, using the initials of its official name.
‘Pho’ means ‘artillery’ in Korean.
Analysts said it is the North’s first use of solid propellants in an intermediate-range or intercontinental ballistic missile.
Developing a solid-fuel ICBM has long been seen as a key goal for North Korea, as it could help the North deploy missiles faster during a war.
Most of the country’s largest ballistic missiles use liquid fuel, which requires them to be loaded with propellant at their launch site – a time-consuming and dangerous process.
Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said: ‘For any country that operates large-scale, missile based nuclear forces, solid-propellant missiles are incredibly desirable capability because they don’t need to be fuelled immediately prior to use.
‘These capabilities are much more responsive in a time of crisis.’
North Korea first displayed what could be a new solid-fuel ICBM during a military parade in February after testing a high-thrust solid-fuel engine in December.