North Korea on Friday bragged the launch of its new intercontinental ballistic missile, identified as “Hwasong-19”, and called it “the world’s strongest” and “perfected weapon system.”
On Thursday (October 31), North Korea launched a missile which flew higher and stayed in the air for a longer duration than any other weapon the country had so far fired.
The launch signaled that North Korea, led by Kim Jong Un, has achieved progress in acquiring a nuclear-armed ICBM that can hit the US mainland. However, a report by The Associated Press (AP) mentioned foreign experts as assessing that the country has still a few remaining technological issues to master before acquiring such a functioning ICBM.
Meanwhile, the North’s Korean Central News Agency called “Hwasong-19” as “the world’s strongest strategic missile” and “the perfected weapon system.”
KCNA said Kim, who observed the launch, thanked weapons scientists for demonstrating North Korea’s “matchless strategic nuclear attack capability.”
As per the KCNA report, Kim also described it as “an appropriate military action” to express North Korea’s resolve to respond to its enemies’ moves that escalated tensions and threats to North Korea’s national security.
Ealier, the South Korea’s military said that North Korea could have tested a solid-fueled missile. However, Friday’s KCNA dispatch didn’t say what propellant the Hwasong-19 ICBM uses.
Meanwhile, observers say the color of exhaust flames seen in North Korean media photos on the launch still suggest the new ICBM uses solid fuels.
Till Thursday’s test, North Korea’s most advanced ICBM was known as the “Hwasong-18” missile which uses solid fuels. Pre-loaded solid propellants make it easier to move missiles and require much less launch preparation times than liquid propellants that must be fueled before liftoffs.
Content retrieved from: https://www.firstpost.com/world/north-korea-confirms-test-firing-new-hwasong-19-icbm-calls-it-worlds-strongest-strategic-missile-13831070.html.
