Sharjah24 – AFP: North Korea confirmed Monday it had fired its most powerful missile since 2017, capping a month-long blitz of launches that has raised the spectre of leader Kim Jong Un restarting nuclear tests.
Pyongyang conducted a record seven weapons tests in January, the most ever in a calendar month, as it threatened to abandon a self-imposed moratorium on launching long-range and nuclear weapons, blaming US "hostile" policy for forcing its hand.
North Korean state media said Monday that the country had test-fired a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile, last launched in 2017, which is powerful enough to put the US territory of Guam in range.
South Korea and the United States responded to the launch with concerns that long-range missiles and nuclear tests could be next on Kim's agenda.
Pyongyang has "come close to destroying the moratorium declaration," South Korean President Moon Jae-In said after an emergency National Security Council meeting Sunday.
He noted the North was showing a "similar pattern" to 2017, when it raised regional tensions by launching intermediate-range missiles and following them up with intercontinental ballistic missile tests.
A senior Biden administration official said Washington shared the concern.
"It's not just what they did yesterday, it's the fact that this is coming on the heels of quite a significant number of tests in this month," he said.
"We obviously don't want to see further testing and we've called upon to DPRK to refrain from further tests," he added, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name.
South Korea said the Sunday test was of an "intermediate range ballistic missile" that flew around 800 kilometres (497 miles) and reached a maximum altitude of 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles).
The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Monday the test "confirmed the accuracy, security and effectiveness of the operation of the Hwasong 12-type weapon system under production".
The test was conducted in a manner that ensured the "security of neighbouring countries," KCNA added.
State media released images purportedly taken by a warhead-mounted camera while it was in space, and others showing the missile blasting off from land. There was no mention of whether leader Kim attended the launch.
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