Latest in a series of missile tests conducted by North Korea in the last few weeks is the biggest-yet intercontinental ballistic missile {ICBM} that can reach targets 15,000km away
A woman walks along a sidewalk past a TV displaying a news programme on North Korea’s missile launch Thursday, 24 March, 2022, in Tokyo. AP
Latest in a series of missile tests conducted by North Korea in the last few weeks is the biggest-yet intercontinental ballistic missile {ICBM} that can reach targets 15,000 kilometres away.
According to a report by the Associated Press, South Korea and Japan noted that North Korea has tested a banned intercontinental missile for the first time since 2017.
The launch, which extended North Korea’s barrage of weapons tests this year, came after the US and South Korean militaries said the country was preparing a flight of a new large ICBM it first unveiled in October 2020.
South Korea’s military responded with live-fire drills of its own missiles launched from land vehicles, a ship and aircraft.
Let’s take a look at what is the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile that North Korea has launched and how dangerous can it be:
How dangerous is North Korea’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
An ICBM is a missile with a minimum range of 5,500 kilometres, primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery. It can also be used to carry conventional, chemical, and biological weapons.
As the name suggests, the missile can travel long distances, thousands of kilometres on a standard trajectory, and could theoretically reach the US.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Ministry said the ICBM missile fired from the Sunan area near capital Pyongyang traveled 1,080 kilometers while reaching a maximum altitude of over 6,200 kilometers.
This indicated the missile was fired on a higher-than-usual angle to avoid reaching the territorial waters of Japan.
Tokyo’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the missile flew for 71 minutes and that Japan may search for debris inside its exclusive economic zone to analyze the North’s weapons technology. Japan’s coast guard issued a warning to vessels in nearby waters, but there were no immediate reports of damage to boats or aircraft.
Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies, said in the Associated Press report that flight details suggest the missile could reach targets 15,000 kilometers away when fired on normal trajectory with a warhead weighing less than a ton. That would place the entire US mainland within striking distance.
Pyongyang is banned from testing ballistic missiles by the United Nations and has endured strict international sanctions for previous tests of its missile and nuclear weapons programs.
In 2018, Kim Jong Un suspended a highly provocative streak of testing nuclear weapons in ahead of his first meeting with then-U.S. President Donald Trump.
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North Korea’s earlier missile tests
North Korea’s previous ICBMs demonstrated potential range to reach the American homeland during three flight tests in 2017.
Its development of the larger Hwasong-17, which was first revealed in a military parade in October 2020, possibly indicates an aim to arm it with multiple warheads to overwhelm missile defenses, experts say.
The North last flight-tested an ICBM in November 2017, when the Hwasong-15 flew about 1,000 kilometers for about 50 minutes at a maximum altitude of 4,000 kilometers. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the missile from the latest test was the Hwasong-17.
Denuclearization talks with the US have been stalled since 2019, when the Americans rejected North Korea’s demand for a major release of crippling US-led sanctions in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.
The country has also tested a variety of new missiles, including a purported hypersonic weapon and its first launch since 2017 of an intermediate range missile with a potential of reaching Guam, a key US military hub in the Pacific.
It also conducted two medium-range tests in recent weeks from Sunan, home to the country’s main airport, that the US and South Korean militaries assessed to have involved components of the North’s largest ICBM.
Those tests were followed by another launch from Sunan last week. But South Korea’s military said the missile likely exploded shortly after liftoff. Details of the explosion and the possibility of civilian damage remain unknown.
North Korea’s official media insisted that the two successful tests were aimed at developing cameras and other systems for a spy satellite. Analysts say the North is clearly attempting to simultaneously resume ICBM testing and acquire some level of space-based reconnaissance capability under the pretense of a space launch to reduce international backlash to those moves.
With inputs from agencies
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