North Korea said on Friday it had tested a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) – which it claims is its most powerful to date.
It could signal a possible breakthrough in the country’s efforts to acquire a more powerful, harder-to-detect weapon, targeting the continental United States.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who guided the test, described the missile as the most powerful weapon of his nuclear forces, that would enhance counterattack abilities.
He warned the test of the Hwasong-18 would make enemies “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”.
The missile, fired from near Pyongyang, flew about 1,000 km (620 miles) before landing in waters east of North Korea, officials said. North Korea said the test posed no threats to its neighbouring countries.
North Korea has criticised recent US-South Korean joint military exercises amid escalating tensions, and has stepped up weapons tests in the past months.
South Korea’s defence ministry said North Korea was still developing the weapon and that it needed more time and effort to master the technology, indicating that Pyongyang might carry out more tests.
KCNA released photos of Kim watching the launch accompanied by his wife, sister and daughter, and the missile covered in camouflage nets on a mobile launcher.
A state media video showed the missile blasting off from a launch tube, creating a cloud of smoke.
“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.
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.”
Vann Van Diepen, a former US government weapons expert, said solid-fuel missiles are easier and safer to operate, and require less logistical support – making them harder to detect and more robust than liquids.
