North Korea has launched what is thought to be its largest intercontinental ballistic missile to date, in a dramatic return to long-range testing that marks the regime’s most serious provocation for years.
South Korea’s military fired a missile barrage into the Sea of Japan in response to the ICBM launch – the first full-range test of Kim Jong-un’s most powerful missiles since 2017. The launch will lead to fears that the North has made significant progress in developing weapons capable of sending nuclear warheads anywhere in the US.
South Korea’s outgoing president, Moon Jae-in, who has made engaging with North Korea a major goal of his administration, said the launch posed a serious threat to the Korean peninsula, the region and the international community and was a “clear violation” of UN security council resolutions.
Countries including the US, UK and France have asked for the security council to hold a public meeting on Friday to discuss the launch, which Japanese authorities said appeared to involve a “new type” of ICBM.
The missile has not been identified, but reports suggest it could be a Hwasong-17, a larger missile than the Hwasong-15 test-fired in November 2017. US and South Korean officials recently said that North Korea had been preparing to test-fire the Hwasong-17.
According to Japan and South Korea, the missile was fired from the Sunan area, near North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, and travelled 1,080km (670 miles), reaching a maximum altitude of more than 6,200km. It was airborne for 71 minutes and landed about 90 miles west of the Oshima peninsula on Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost main island. There were no reports of damage to aircraft or vessels in the area.
The missile was apparently fired at a high angle to avoid reaching Japan’s territorial waters. No previous North Korean missile had flown for that long or reached that altitude, Japan’s defence ministry said.
“This is such an outrageous, unforgivable act,” said Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, in Brussels before a meeting of the G7 group of countries to discuss the war in Ukraine.
Japan’s state minister of defence, Makoto Oniki, said: “At a time when the world is dealing with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korea is pressing ahead with launches that unilaterally aggravate provocations against the international community, which is absolutely unforgivable.”
The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said the launch was a “brazen violation” of UN security council resolutions and risked destabilising the region’s security. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, spoke by phone to counterparts in Japan and South Korea after the launch.
Analysts say the unprecedented frequency of missile tests this year is a clear signal that Kim is determined to cement North Korea’s status as a nuclear power, enabling him to approach any future nuclear talks with the US from a position of strength.
“Despite economic challenges and technical setbacks, the Kim regime is determined to advance its missile capabilities,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. “It would be a mistake for international policymakers to think the North Korean missile threat can be put on the back burner while the world deals with the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
The launch will present South Korea’s incoming president, Yoon Suk-yeol, with a considerable policy challenge when he takes office in early May.
North Korea has conducted 13 rounds of weapons launches this year, including one on 16 March in which a suspected missile exploded above Pyongyang shortly after launch.
The volley of tests fuelled speculation that Kim was gearing up for the launch of a larger weapon theoretically capable of reaching the US mainland.
US officials said North Korea had used two launches, on 27 February and 5 March, to evaluate components belonging to the Hwasong-17. A launch last week, probably of the Hwasong-17, ended in failure, with the missile exploding mid-air in the skies above the capital.
North Korea’s official media said the two successful tests were aimed at developing cameras and other systems for a spy satellite.
Experts have previously said a full Hwasong-17 launch could coincide with the 110th anniversary of the birth of North Korea’s founder, and Kim Jong-un’s grandfather, Kim Il-sung, on 15 April.
North Korea has previously carried out three full ICBM tests. Kim suspended missile launches during several rounds of nuclear diplomacy with Donald Trump in 2018, although their three meetings failed to make any progress on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.
With little prospect for a return to nuclear talks with the Biden administration, North Korea hinted at the start of the year that it could break its self-imposed moratorium on ICBM and nuclear tests.
The Hwasong-17, which is “considerably larger” than the Hwasong-15, according to analysts, was unveiled at a predawn military parade in October 2020 and displayed a second time at a defence exhibition in Pyongyang in October last year.
