North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C, 1st row) joins a photo session with members of the Korean Children's Union, who carried out a mission as a congratulatory group at the 5th National Conference of Mothers, in Pyongyang on Dec. 8, 2023, in this photo taken from the North's official Korean Central Television the next day.(IANS/Yonhap)
Seoul, December 19 (IANS) North Korea on Tuesday confirmed of test-firing a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) the previous day, with leader Kim Jong-un saying the launch showed what option he would take "when Washington makes a wrong decision".
The missile launch was conducted to "take a powerful warning measure under the grave situation, in which the hostile forces' anti-DPRK military threat ... is getting evermore undisguised and dangerous", the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, referring to the North by its official name.
According to the KCNA, the ICBM flew 1,002.3 km for 4,415 seconds at a maximum altitude of 6,518.2 km before "accurately" hitting the East Sea.
Experts said the missile would have flown more than 15,000 km, long enough to strike any part of the continental US, had it been fired on a normal trajectory, reports Yonhap News Agency.
Meanwhile, Kim expressed great satisfaction with the launch, saying it was "a practical demonstration of the actual condition and reliability of the formidable striking capabilities and absolute nuclear war deterrent possessed by the DPRK's armed forces", the KCNA said.
"Noting that it was an occasion to clearly show what action the DPRK has been prepared and what option the DPRK would take when Washington makes a wrong decision against it, he appreciated that the drill once again and strikingly displayed the DPRK's will for toughest counteraction and its overwhelming strength," it said.
Photos released by state media showed Kim observing the launch alongside his daughter, known as Ju-ae, who had appeared in ceremonies celebrating the North's spy satellite launch last month.
Also among the photos were images of Earth, presumed to be taken from the Hwasong-18, and a transporter erector launcher carrying the missile ahead of its launch.
This marked the North's fifth ICBM launch this year, the highest number ever recorded in a single year and the third Hwasong-18 solid-fuel ICBM launch following those in April and July.
Solid-fuel missiles are faster to shoot and harder to detect ahead of a launch.
