North Korea said on Friday that the projectile it launched into the Sea of Japan on Thursday was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), North Korea’s official KCNA news agency reported, confirming reports from the South Korean military.
The missile, named Hwasong-17, was fired in response to joint military exercises currently being conducted by the United States and South Korea, described as “provocative and aggressive” by the official Pyongyang news agency.
Thursday’s firing was North Korea’s third since Sunday and came hours before a visit to Tokyo by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
This missile test “is an opportunity to give a stronger warning to enemies seeking to escalate tension on the Korean peninsula,” KCNA stressed.
The missile traveled about 1,000 kilometers and reached a maximum altitude of 6,000 kilometers “before landing precisely in the predefined area in the open waters of the East Sea,” the Korean name for the Sea of Japan, according to the official northern news agency. .-Korean.
The launch came as joint US-South Korean military exercises are underway, which Pyongyang sees as a rehearsal for an invasion.
The exercises began on Monday and are expected to last until March 23, including computer simulations and live-fire field exercises.
Pyongyang had already conducted two tests this week, firing cruise missiles from a submarine and also firing short-range ballistic missiles from North Korean territory toward a target in the eastern sea.
The weapons tests were expected as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last week ordered the military to stand ready to repel what he called “frantic war preparation exercises” by the country’s opponents.
Last year, Pyongyang tested more than 70 missiles, including some nuclear-capable, to attack South Korea, Japan and the mainland United States, saying many of those tests were warnings, following joint US-South Korean military drills. south in the past
Before leaving for Tokyo, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said: “There will be an obvious price to pay for North Korea’s reckless provocations.”
The summit between Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is aimed at mending relations between the two countries and consolidating trilateral security cooperation with the United States to counter North Korean threats.
In December, the Kishida government adopted a new security strategy under which it intends to acquire pre-emptive strike weapons and cruise missiles to deal with growing threats from North Korea, China and Russia.
Source: TSF
