Kim leads nation’s ICBM test ,promises to develop more nuclear weapons.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised to respond to U.S. nuclear threats with nuclear weapons, according to official media KCNA on Saturday.
As he observed a test of the nation’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised to respond to U.S. nuclear threats with nuclear weapons, according to official media KCNA on Saturday.
After threatening “fiercer military reactions” to Washington stepping up its regional security posture, including nuclear assets, the isolated nation tested the Hwasong-17 ICBM on Friday.
First-time visitor Kim claimed his nation “significantly accelerated the fortification of its overwhelming nuclear deterrence” in response to threats from the United States and its allies pursuing a hostile strategy.
According to the official KCNA news agency, Kim Jong Un “solemnly reaffirmed that our party and government will resolutely answer to nukes with nuclear weapons and to ultimate confrontation with all-out combat” if the enemy continue to pose threats.
According to KCNA, the launch of the Hwasong-17 was a component of the North’s “top-priority defense-building plan” that intended to create “the most powerful and uncompromising nuclear deterrence.”
The missile travelled approximately 1,000 km (621 miles) in just over 69 minutes, peaking at a height of 6,041 kilometres, according to KCNA. The weapon can travel up to 15,000 km (9,320 miles), which is far enough to reach the continental United States, according to the Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada.
The United States, along with South Korea and Japan, has asked the U.N. Security Council to meet on Monday to discuss North Korea in light of the most recent launch.
After Pyongyang’s most recent nuclear test in 2017, harsher measures were supported by China and Russia, but in May both countries rejected a U.S.-led effort for additional U.N. sanctions due to its continued missile launches.
According to a count by the U.S. State Department, Friday’s launch was North Korea’s ninth ICBM test this year. ICBMs are the country’s longest-range weapons.
North Korean ICBM failures have been reported by South Korean and American officials, including one on November 3 that looked to have failed at a high altitude.