SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea said on Tuesday it had launched a Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Monday as a drill to confirm the war readiness of its nuclear deterrence force in the face of mounting hostility by the United States.
State news agency KCNA said the country’s leader Kim Jong Un watched the launch of the ICBM at the site. The missile reached the altitude of 6,518 km (4,050 miles), flying 1,002 km (623 miles) and accurately hitting the intended target, KCNA said.
Kim said the launch sends “a clear signal to the hostile forces, who have fanned up their reckless military confrontation hysteria” against the North throughout the year, KCNA said.
The agency said the drill “displayed the DPRK’s will for toughest counteraction and its overwhelming strength.” DPRK is short for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
South Korea and Japan said on Monday the North had fired an ICBM with a range to hit anywhere in the United States, after it condemned a U.S. military show of force including the arrival of an aircraft carrier and nuclear-powered submarine in South Korea as “war” moves.
South Korea said the missile was a solid-fuel Hwasong-18 ICBM. It flew in a sharply lofted trajectory landing in the sea west of Japan’s Hokkaido island.
North Korea’s state media published what it said were photographs of the launch, showing the missile blasting off from a snow-covered field trailing a plume of smoke.
(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Stephen Coates)
