hankyoreh

The Hwasong-13

North Korea threatened that it will test launch an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) before long.

“The strategic weapon tests that we have been conducting recently demonstrate that it will certainly not be long before North Korea launches an ICBM,” said the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP), in a June 10 article titled “The complete bankruptcy of the US’s policy of hostility toward North Korea is historically inevitable.” This article appears consistent with remarks made by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his New Year’s address this year, when he said that “preparations for the test launch of an ICBM are in their final stage.”

This year, North Korea has fired a variety of new missiles. It has continued to demonstrate its ability to develop missiles by launching one missile after another, including the Pukguksong-2, a solid-fuel missile; the Hwasong-12, an intermediate-range ballistic missile; the KN-06, a surface-to-air missile; and a surface-to-ship cruise missile. This article in the Rodong Sinmun seems to have been written with these facts in mind.

“The great success of the test launch of our ICBM, which will certainly occur, will be a historic turning point declaring the complete bankruptcy of the US’s policy of hostility toward North Korea. Historically speaking, the US has never dared to wage war with countries that possess nuclear weapons and ICBMs,” the Rodong Sinmun also said.

Amid North Korea’s claims, the US is focusing on the possibility of North Korea’s ICBM launch taking place this year. During a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on June 7, Rob Soofer cited the testimony of intelligence officials who say that North Korea is poised to carry out its first ICBM test launch in 2017, Japanese news agency Kyodo News reported. Soofer is the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Missile Defense Policy.

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer

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