North Korea confirmed on Friday that the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) the communist regime tested on Thursday was a new model, identified as the “Hwasong-19.”
South Korean military officials confirmed on Thursday that the North had launched an ICBM, believed to be nuclear capable and able to reach all of the continental United States. The missile flew for 86 limits, a record for North Korean technology, and its performance coupled with the novel shape of its launch pad did not match the profiles of previously known North Korean ICBM models.
Both South Korean and Japanese officials warned this week that they expect especially belligerent behavior from Pyongyang in anticipation of the upcoming American presidential election. Both warned shortly before the ICBM launch that such a display was imminently possible, as well as the potential that North Korea could detonate a nuclear weapon to intimidate America and South Korea before the election on Tuesday.
The “Hwasong-19” debuted in the greater context of a documented North Korean military presence in Europe. South Korean, American, and Ukrainian officials have warned for weeks that communist dictator Kim Jong-un has agreed to send thousands of troops to Russia to train and ultimately fight in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, this week that he anticipates as many as 12,000 North Korean troops could soon be operating in Ukraine. A video circulating on Ukrainian social media on Friday claimed to show a captured North Korean soldier.
Rodong Sinmun, the official North Korean regime newspaper, celebrated the “Hwasong-19” on Friday as a “tremendously powerful absolute weapon … showing signs of new strength the world has never experienced.” It published photos of a leather-clad Kim Jong-un, alongside daughter Kim Ju-ae, attending the launch of the ICBM, claiming the dictator to have experienced “great satisfaction” at the success of the weapon.
“The successful test-fire of the new-type ICBM has come to prove before the world that the dominant position the DPRK [North Korea] has secured in the development and manufacture of nuclear delivery means of the same kind is absolutely irreversible,” Rodong Sinmun paraphrased Kim as saying.
“He clearly reaffirmed that the DPRK would never change its line of bolstering up its nuclear forces under any circumstances,” the propaganda outlet relayed. “He once again stressed that only the peace that can be defended by the strength great enough to control and deter the enemy is the reliable, secure and durable peace.”
Rodong Sinmun claimed that America and South Korea pose “a grave danger” to North Korea that necessitates a greater investment in the country’s nuclear arsenal.
“The present grave reality … more clearly emphasizes the necessity of the absolute power capable of deterring the enemy and controlling the situation at all times and the validity of its steady increase,” the newspaper asserted.
The North Korean government almost immediately confirmed the missile launch on Thursday, contrary to its typical process of waiting a day before offering any commentary on an ICBM test. Its report aligned with information published by South Korean and Japanese officials, who stated that the missile, shot at a very steep angle, flew 621 miles across and 4,300 high.
In its initial confirmation of the test, the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) stated the missile “fully meets the purpose of informing the rivals [South Korea and America], who have intentionally escalated the regional situation and posed a threat to the security of our Republic recently, of our counteraction will.”
In remarks to the press on Friday, according to the Yonhap News Agency, appearing to confirm the North Korean claims, South Korean officials described the Hwasong-19 as the “largest long-range missile yet.”
“A South Korean military official told reporters on condition of anonymity that the Hwasong-19 is longer than the country’s previously known largest ICBM — the Hwasong-17,” Yonhap noted. “In comparison, the Hwasong-17’s TEL, which also has 11 axles, is about 23 meters long.”
“The size of the Hwasong-19, powered by solid propellant, also indicates that it has a relatively longer range and larger payload than the smaller solid-fuel Hwasong-18 solid-fuel ICBM that is presumed to be able to target the U.S. mainland,” it continued.
South Korean officials also suggested that the shape of the missile could potentially hold more than one nuclear warhead. Despite the updated capabilities of the Hwasong-19, South Korean officials dismissed the claim that it was an “ultimate” weapon, noting that its efficacy is still not confirmed as its ability to travel on a horizontal path, rather than being shot into the sky, remains unknown.
The Hwasong-19 may not be the last North Korean surprise before the American presidential election. Both Japanese and South Korean officials suggested this week that Pyongyang has fully refurbished the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, unused since 2017, meaning it could soon be used to detonate another nuclear weapon.
South Korean officials “suggested the North could launch an ICBM to verify its atmospheric reentry technology, at a timing targeting the US presidential election in November,” the Japanese news network NHK reported. The officials, it added, “have not ruled out North Korea going ahead with its seventh nuclear test around the time of the US presidential election.”
Japanese government Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters this week that North Korea “may undertake further provocative actions, such as launching various missiles, a satellite, or conducting a nuclear test.”