North Korea launches ICBM after US-South Korea drills announced
North Korea conducted an ICBM [inter-contiential ballistic missile] launch exercise” on Saturday, hours after South Korea announced it would hold joint exercises with the United States.
Quoting the South Korean military, the New York Times reported a North Korean ICBM, launched from the capital of the communist regime Pyongyang, “flew about 560 miles east” on Saturday and landed off the coast of Japan.
The missile, apparently a Hwasong-15, showed similar results to a Hwasong-17 tested in November, as CBS News reported. If launched at the right angle, the Hwasong-17 could potentially reach the United States, according to the outlet:
According to the South Korean and Japanese militaries, the missile was fired at a high angle, apparently to avoid reaching neighboring territories, and flew about 560 miles at a maximum altitude of 3,500 miles during a flight. ‘one hour.
Details were similar to North Korea’s Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile test flight in November, which experts say demonstrated potential to reach the American mainland if fired on a normal trajectory. Saturday’s test was for a Hwasong-15, according to KCNA.
“An ICBM launch exercise was carried out on the afternoon of February 18,” according to a North Korean state media report. recognized. The report goes on to say that the regime launched the exercise because “military threats from the United States and South Korea are becoming so serious that they cannot be ignored.”
The report focuses on military cooperation between the United States and South Korea. A statement released by North Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Friday said the regime is particularly harmed by “20 rounds of joint military exercises” it claims the United States and South Korea plan to conduct “in course of this year”.
“In the event that the United States and South Korea carry out their already announced plan for military exercises…they will face unprecedented persistent and strong counterattacks,” the statement concluded. bed.
The Associated Press (AP) noted Friday that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “did not specify which US-South Korean military formations he was referring to,” but that the regime “generally criticized all major regular military exercises between Washington and Seoul as a practice to launch an invasion.”
However, NK News noted the statement “chours after the ROK Ministry of Defense announced the dates and location for the tabletop exercises.
A press release from the South Korean Defense Ministry said the tabletop exercises would “focus on the North Korean nuclear threat”, according to NK News.
You can follow Michael Foster on Twitter at @realmfoster.
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