North Korea launched another long-range ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States on Monday, marking a record number of weapons tests this year, according to officials in Seoul and Tokyo.
The launch followed a shorter-range missile test on Sunday night. The launches came just after another wave of threatening rhetoric between North Korea and US allies South Korea.
South Korea said that on Monday it detected the launch of a long-range ballistic missile from Pyongyang’s neighbourhood that flew 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) and fell into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.
Reports from the South said the missile flew upwards rather than sideways, which Pyongyang said has been used in weapons tests in the past to avoid flying over neighbouring countries. Japan’s defence ministry said it was an ICBM-class missile with a potential range spanning the entire United States. Shingo Miyake, parliamentary vice-minister of defence, said:
The ICBM-class ballistic missile launched this time, if calculated based on the trajectory, depending on weight of warhead, could have a flying range of over 15,000 kilometres (9,320 miles). In which case the whole of the US territory would be within the range.
The UN Security Council has repeatedly passed resolutions calling on North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes since it first conducted a nuclear test in 2006.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called Monday’s launch a “threat to peace and stability.” He said it violated UN Security Council resolutions.
The US State Department issued a statement condemning the test.
North Korea has already conducted four ICBM test launches this year. The most recent was in July, when it launched a solid-propellant Hwasong-18 missile.
The Hwasong-18, which had its first test launch in April, is North Korea’s first solid-fuelled ICBM, which makes it easier to transport and faster to launch than liquid-fuelled versions.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said they are analysing whether Monday’s launch was of a solid-propellant ICBM.
The United States and South Korea held the second session of the Nuclear Advisory Group in Washington on Friday to discuss nuclear deterrence in the event of a conflict with the North. On Saturday, they warned that any nuclear attack by Pyongyang on the United States and South Korea would lead to the end of the North Korean regime.
On Sunday, a North Korean defence ministry spokesman condemned plans by the allies to expand annual joint military exercises next year to include a nuclear operation drill.
Last year, North Korea declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power. Its government has also repeatedly said it will never give up its nuclear programme, which it believes is necessary for the state’s survival.
