North Korea’s Kim Boasts A New ICBM As US Bombers Flies

(CTN NEWS) – Earlier this week, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un boasted that a recently tested intercontinental ballistic missile is a “reliable and maximum-capacity” weapon for containing U.S. military threats.

The United States flew supersonic bombers in response to the North’s weapons launch.

Kim reportedly oversaw the launch of the Hwasong-17 missile, according to the North’s Korean Central News Agency.

A day earlier, the North’s neighbours claimed to have detected the launch of an ICBM capable of reaching any location in the United States.

According to KCNA, Kim watched the launch alongside senior officials, his wife Ri Sol Ju, and their “dear daughter.”

State-run media images showed Kim and his daughter, wearing a white coat, strolling hand in hand while admiring a massive missile put onto a launch vehicle.

North Korea has never before published a picture of Kim’s daughter. According to observers, Kim watching a missile launch with his family shows that he feels more confident as his nuclear programme advances.

The North has continued to test missiles, which is considered an effort to build up its arsenal and increase its negotiating power in the future. Friday’s launch was one of these tests.

The Hwasong-17 missile, according to some experts from other countries, is the North’s longest-range ballistic weapon and is designed to carry several nuclear bombs to circumvent American missile defence systems.

According to KCNA, the missile launched from Pyongyang International Airport reached a maximum altitude of approximately 6,040 kilometres (3,750 miles).

And travelled a distance of approximately 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) before it touched down on the designated area in international waters off the nation’s east coast.

“The new major strategic weapon system’s dependability as a representation of (North Korea’s) strategic forces.

And its potent combat performance as the greatest strategic weapon in the world were both amply demonstrated by the test fire,” according to KCNA.

“Kim Jong Un sincerely stated that if North Korea’s enemies continue to threaten it by often using nuclear strike methods.

Our party and government will resolutely respond to nuclear threats with nuclear weapons and to total conflict with complete conflict,” according to KCNA.

As the US pushes to strengthen its security commitment to its allies South Korea and Japan, Kim’s remark signals North Korea would continue its testing efforts.

North Korea may soon perform its first nuclear test in five years, which raises concerns.

In reaction to the North Korean ICBM launch, U.S. B-1B bombers participated in separate joint exercises on Saturday with South Korean and Japanese warplanes.

South Korean and Japanese officials stated that their respective training exercises with American bombers confirmed their joint defensive postures.

Because American B-1B bombers can transport a sizable payload of conventional bombs, North Korea is sensitive to their deployment.

The United States sent B-1B bombers soaring over South Korea earlier this month as part of training—the bombers’ first such flyover in five years.

On Friday, the American military conducted separate aviation exercises with Japanese and South Korean soldiers.

The military of South Korea reported that on Friday, it also conducted its own drills simulating aerial attacks on mobile missile launchers in North Korea.

In response to Japan’s request, the U.N. Security Council set a Monday morning emergency meeting about North Korea’s most recent ballistic missile launch.

However, it’s uncertain if it can impose new sanctions on North Korea given that China and Russia, two of the council members have veto power.

They opposed efforts by the United States and its allies to impose tougher sanctions on the North in response to its earlier this year prohibited ballistic missile tests.

Speaking on behalf of the National Security Council, Adrienne Watson said that the United States will take “all necessary actions” to ensure the safety of its territory, South Korea and Japan.

She also denounced the launch on Friday.

In a separate meeting, Vice President Kamala Harris discussed a coordinated response to North Korea with the presidents of those nations, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, who were in Bangkok for a regional summit.

Yasukazu Hamada, the defence minister of Japan, stated on Friday that the missile could cover the entire mainland of the United States if it had a range of more than 15,000 kilometres (9,320 miles).

Depending on the weight of a prospective warhead.

North’s arsenals of nuclear weapons and missiles remain cloaked in mystery.

According to some experts, North Korea still needs to demonstrate technologies to make sure that warheads survive the extreme conditions of atmospheric reentry before it would have a working nuclear missile.

Others, though, assert that given the length of time invested on its nuclear programme, North Korea has probably already developed such capabilities.

Numerous shorter-range missile tests, which North Korea has described as nuclear strike drills against South Korean and American targets, have been conducted in recent months.

North Korea said that its tests were intended to send a message to the US and South Korea on their military exercises, which the North views as a practice for an invasion.

According to Seoul and Washington, the routine training they conduct is defensive in nature.

Before firing a short-range ballistic missile on Thursday, North Korea temporarily stopped all weapon launches.

Choe Son Hui, the foreign minister of North Korea, had vowed to launch “fiercer” military responses prior to that launch if the United States took any action to strengthen its security ties with South Korea and Japan.

In a joint statement that sharply denounced North Korea‘s most recent missile tests and pledged their collaborative efforts to increase deterrence.

U.S. President Joe Biden met with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on November 13 outside of a regional conference in Cambodia.

In his speech, Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to defending South Korea and Japan with all available means, including nuclear weapons.

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