(Bloomberg) — North Korea fired a suspected long-range ballistic missile, ratcheting up tensions after issuing a warning to the US and parading a record number of rockets through the streets of Pyongyang designed to deliver a nuclear warhead to the American mainland.
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South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and Japan’s Coast Guard said North Korea launched the suspected ballistic missile Saturday toward waters off its east coast. The missile was seen falling at about 6:27 pm. local time in waters about 200 kilometers (125 miles) off Japan’s main northern island of Hokkaido, Japan’s Coast Guard said.
South Korea’s military said the missile appeared to be a longer-range weapon that was launched at about 5:22 p.m. from an area near Pyongyang’s international airport. The information indicates the missile flew for more than an hour, which would be similar to the flight times of other North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile tests.
North Korea’s last test of an ICBM was in November. It flew for more than an hour, reaching an altitude of around 6,000 kilometers (3,730 miles) and a distance of about 1,000 kilometers.
Pyongyang fired three short range ballistic missiles on Dec. 31 and shot off one more in the opening hours of the first day of 2023.
Last year, Kim Jong Un’s regime test fired more than 70 ballistic missiles, the most in his decade in power and in defiance of United Nations resolutions that prohibit the launches. He has stepped up provocations in recent months in a display of anger at joint military drills in the region by the US and its allies, South Korea and Japan.
US, South Korea to Bolster Military Drills That Anger Kim
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Friday threatened the US with “unprecedentedly persistent and strong counteractions” if it went ahead with joint military exercises with South Korea. In late January, the US and South Korea announced plans to step up the scale of their joint military exercises, a move that has in the past prompted threats and weapons tests by North Korea.
Kim pledged to increase his nuclear arsenal in the new year to stifle US and South Korean hostile acts, in a policy-setting address released on Jan. 1 where he left almost no opening for a return to long-stalled disarmament talks.
Kim Jong Un Puts New ICBM, And a Potential Heir, on Parade
The latest launch comes after North Korea put on its biggest display of intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to deliver an atomic strike on the US during a military parade in Pyongyang earlier this month. Kim oversaw the festivities and brought along his daughter — signaling that there’s another generation ready to take over the Cold War’s last continuous family dynasty and it will depend on nuclear weapons for its survival.
North Korea’s state media on Saturday reported that Kim took his daughter to watch a soccer match as part of the celebrations for North Korea’s Day of the Shining Star to mark the birthday of Kim Jong Il, the father of the current leader.
Kim Jong Un has been modernizing his inventory of missiles over the past several years to make them easier to hide, quicker to deploy and more difficult to shoot down. Over the past several months, he has tested missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons to South Korea and Japan, as well as firing off intercontinental ballistic missiles with ranges to hit the American mainland.
North Korea on Nov. 18 test-fired an ICBM with Kim’s daughter on hand for the launch, marking her first official appearance in state media.
North Korea may soon raise regional tensions even higher with its first nuclear test since 2017. The US, South Korea and Japan have said for months that Pyongyang appears ready to test a device at any time and the three have pledged stern and coordinated punishments if Kim goes ahead with an atomic test.
But the North Korean leader is finding space to ramp up provocations and conduct tit-for-tat military moves against the US and its allies as President Joe Biden focuses on Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The US push to isolate Vladimir Putin, coupled with increasing animosity toward China, has allowed Kim to strengthen his nuclear deterrent without fear of facing more sanctions at the UN Security Council.
There’s almost no chance Russia or China, which have veto power at the council, would support any measures against North Korea, as they did in 2017 following a series of weapons tests that prompted former President Donald Trump to warn of “fire and fury.”
–With assistance from Sohee Kim.
(Updates with details)
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