North Korea conducts its first inter-continental ballistic missile launch in 3 months

Seoul, July 12

North Korea conducted its first intercontinental ballistic missile test in three months on Wednesday, two days after it threatened “shocking” consequences to protest what it called provocative US reconnaissance activity near its territory.

Some experts say North Korea likely tested its developmental, road-mobile Hwasong-18 ICBM, a type of solid-fuel weapon that is harder to detect and intercept than the North’s other liquid-fuel ICBMs.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un previously called the Hwasong-18 his most powerful nuclear weapon.

A long-range North Korean missile fired from its capital region around 10 am flew about 1,000 kilometres at a maximum altitude of 6,000 kilometres before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, according to South Korean and Japanese assessments.

They said the missile was launched on a high angle, in an apparent attempt to avoid neighbouring countries.

South Korea’s military called the launch “a grave provocation” and said the South Korean and US authorities agreed to maintain robust, combined defence postures.

Chief Japanese Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno also denounced North Korea over its repeated ballistic missile launches as “threats to the peace and safety of Japan, the region and international society.” He said that Japan protested to North Korea via embassies in Beijing.

The launch came as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida were visiting Vilnius, Lithuania, to attend this week’s NATO summit.