Ready for War..? North Korea tests banned intercontinental missile

News Desk March 24, 2022 in ASIA, WORLD Tagged Russia, Ukraine, War - 2 Minutes

On 16 March North Korea fired a missile, which the US said was a test for parts of an ICBM system

North Korea has tested a banned intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time since 2017, according to South Korea.

Japanese officials estimated it flew 1,100 km (684 miles). It fell in Japanese waters after flying for more than an hour.

An ICBM can travel thousands of kilometres on a standard trajectory, and could theoretically reach the US.

North Korea has launched a flurry of missile tests in recent weeks.

The US and South Korea have said some of those tests, which Pyongyang claimed were satellite launches, were actually trials of an ICBM system.

Thursday’s missile reached an altitude of more than 6,000km, according to Japanese officials.

The UN prohibits North Korea from ballistic and nuclear weapons tests, and has imposed strict sanctions after previous tests.

N Korean leader Kim Jong-un put in place a moratorium on testing long-range ballistic missiles and nuclear tests, following talks with then US President Donald Trump.

But in 2020, Mr Kim announced he was no longer bound by this promise.

In 2017 North Korea tested an ICBM – the Hwasong-12 – which reached an altitude of about 4,500km.

The Hwasong-14 demonstrated even greater potential, with a range of 8,000km.

Only the US, Russia and China have land-based missiles of this range.

Experts estimated that it could have travelled more than 13,000km if it had been fired on a standard trajectory, which meant it could reach any part of the continental United States.