North Korea says it tested new solid-fuel ICBM, state media reports as key breakthrough

Seoul, South Korea: North Korea announced on Friday that it has successfully tested a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, which the nation’s state-run media hailed as a major development for its nuclear defence capabilities. The military of South Korea claimed on Thursday that the North had probably tested a brand-new type of ballistic missile, with the launch temporarily leading to an order for sections of Japan to evacuate. State-run media revealed images of leader Kim Jong Un, who was seen with his young daughter, watching a black-and-white missile go off in a cloud of smoke and beaming with delight after what was apparently a successful launch. “A new type of intercontinental ballistic missile ‘Hwasung-18’ was test fired on Thursday as the key means of strategic military force,” the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. “The purpose of the test launch was to confirm the performance of the high-power solid-fuel multi-stage engines, the stage separation technology and the reliability of the control systems with different functions, and to evaluate the military effectiveness of the new strategic weapons system,” it added. Kim said the new weapon “will greatly reorganise our strategic deterrence and reinforce effectiveness of our nuclear counterattack,” according to KCNA. “We will strike with deadly force and respond aggressively until the enemy gives up its idle strategy and foolish behaviour and so that it will suffer in endless fear,” he added. Wish list All of Pyongyang’s known intercontinental ballistic missiles are liquid-fuelled, and solid-fuel ICBMs that can be launched from land or submarines have long been at the top of Kim’s wish list. Such missiles are easier to store and transport, more stable and quicker to prepare for launch, and thus harder to detect and destroy pre-emptively. At a military parade in Pyongyang in February, North Korea showed off a record number of nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missiles, including what analysts said was possibly a new solid-fuel ICBM. North Korea has “repeated again its pattern of provocation with its new weapons,” Go Myong-hyun, a researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, told AFP. “First, it tested a solid-fuel motor before showcasing the missile at a military parade in February and now they carried out an actual test,” he said. “The reason North Korea is obsessed about solid-fuel missiles is because it will significantly reduce the preparation time before launch,” Go said. “This is important as the longer it takes after bringing out the missile from a silo or a tunnel, the higher the possibility of destruction before launch.” The announcement comes a day before North Korea is set to mark one of its most important political anniversaries, the Day of the Sun on 15 April. The date commemorates founding leader Kim Il Sung’s birth anniversary and has typically been celebrated with significant weapons tests or military parades. Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with Pyongyang declaring itself an “irreversible” nuclear power last year, effectively ending the possibility of denuclearisation talks. Kim also ordered the military this year to intensify drills to prepare for a “real war”. Washington and Seoul have ramped up defence cooperation in response, staging joint military exercises with advanced stealth jets and high-profile US strategic assets. North Korea views such exercises as rehearsals for invasion and described them on Tuesday as “frantic” drills “simulating an all-out war against” Pyongyang. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.