North Korea launches intercontinental missile, escalating threat to US mainland

A missile is launched, as North Korea conducted a test firing of a tactical ballistic missile on May 18, 2024.

North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday, marking its first test in nearly a year, aimed at demonstrating its capability to strike the US mainland. Leader Kim Jong Un ordered the launch, calling it a “military action” to counter threats to North Korea’s security, according to the Defence Ministry.

North Korea launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday in its first test in almost a year of a weapon designed to threaten the US mainland and occurring days ahead of the US election.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the missile test and was at the launch site, calling the launch “an appropriate military action” to show North Korea’s resolve to respond to its enemies’ moves that has threatened the North’s safety, according to its Defense Ministry.

The United States, South Korea and Japan had also identified the weapon as an ICBM and condemned the launch as raising tensions. The launch came as Washington warned that North Korean troops in Russian uniforms are heading toward Ukraine, likely to augment Russian forces and join the war.

North Korea confirmed the launch hours after its neighbors detected the firing of what they suspected was a new, more agile weapon targeting the mainland US. The statement was unusually quick since North Korea usually describes its weapons tests a day after they occur.

“I affirm that the DPRK will never change its line of bolstering up its nuclear forces,” Kim said, according to a North Korean Defense Ministry statement carried by state media. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.


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