SEOUL, March 25 (BNA) North Korea said on Friday that it had tested the largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on the orders of leader Kim Jong Un, who pledged to expand North Korea’s “nuclear war deterrent.”
The report by North Korean state media came a day after the militaries of South Korea and Japan said they had detected North Korea’s launch of an ICBM in its first long-range test since 2017, according to the Associated Press.
The Hwasong-17 missile, which was launched at a high angle to avoid neighbors’ territorial waters, reached a maximum altitude of 6,248 kilometers (3,880 miles) and traveled 1,090 kilometers (680 miles) during a 67-minute flight before landing in the waters between the two countries, the official Korean Central News Agency said. In Pyongyang, North Korea and Japan.
And the Korean Central News Agency claimed that the launch achieved its technical goals and proved that the ICBM can be operated quickly during wartime conditions.
The Hwasong-17 is believed to be about 25 meters (82 ft) long, North Korea’s longest weapon and, by some estimates, the world’s largest road-mobile ballistic missile system. North Korea unveiled the missile at a military parade in October 2020, and Thursday’s launch marked its first full-range test.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin held separate phone conversations with his counterparts in South Korea and Japan where they discussed measures to respond to North Korean missile activities and pledged to enhance defense cooperation, according to US Defense Department data.
insult