BackNorth Korea claims success in launch of mid-range missile
The Hwasong-10, described as a 'surface-to-surface medium long-range strategic ballistic missile,' flew 400 kilometres and achieved a maximum altitude of 1,414 kilometres before landing in target waters
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Seoul: North Korea said its launch on Wednesday of an intermediate-range ballistic missile was successful, claiming the projectile is capable of hitting US military operations in the Pacific.
The firing, watched by leader Kim Jong-un, was “successfully conducted without giving any slightest effect to the security of surrounding countries," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a statement on Thursday. South Korea’s defence ministry has no official response yet to the claim, said a ministry official, who declined to be identified because of internal policy.
The Hwasong-10, described as a ‘surface-to-surface medium long-range strategic ballistic missile,’ flew 400 kilometres and achieved a maximum altitude of 1,414 kilometres before ‘accurately’ landing in target waters, the statement said.
The details matched those given by Japan’s defence ministry of the launch that took place at 8 AM Seoul time on Wednesday, the second of two firings condemned by the US, South Korea and Japan.
KCNA didn’t specify when the launch took place.
Kim Jong-un was cited as saying the missile gives the capability to “attack in an overall and practical way the Americans in the Pacific operation theatre," adding that it was “an important occasion in further strengthening the nuclear attack capacity" of North Korea.
Yonhap News Agency said the projectiles are the same as Musudan missiles that have an estimated range of 3,000 kilometres, although North Korea didn’t use such terminology in the statement.
‘Provocative actions’
North Korea has been testing the mid-range weapons in a series of botched launches that began in April on the anniversary of the birthday of the nation’s founder. The attempts followed the country’s fourth nuclear test in January and the February firing of a long-range rocket it said was to put a satellite in space.
The launches on Wednesday were condemned by nations around the world. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s office said the firings were a “clear violation" of United Nations Security Council resolutions. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) said the ‘provocative actions’ undermine international security, while the US state department spokesman John Kirby said the launches “only serve to increase the international community’s resolve to counter the DPRK’s (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) prohibited activities." Bloomberg
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