North Korea has launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time in a year to warn the US.
According to NPR, North Korea on Thursday, October 31, 2024, tested an ICBM to demonstrate its potential advancement and ability to launch long-range nuclear attacks on the mainland US.
As per the Defense Ministry, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was present at the test site and called the launch “an appropriate military action” that shows how the country will respond to its enemies' moves that have threatened the North's safety.
The North Korean Defense Ministry confirmed the launch of missiles in a statement hours after neighboring South Korea noticed the firing of what they noticed was a new and more powerful weapon capable of targeting the mainland US.
The ministry stated that Kim vowed, “I affirm that the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) will never change its line of bolstering up its nuclear forces.”
Moreover, the US, South Korea, and Japan also identified the weapon as an ICBM and condemned the launch amid rising tension.
Yang Uk, an expert at South Korea’s Asan Institute Institute for Policy Studies, noted, “North Korea could have probably thought that its rivals could look down on it after it gave away so much in military resources to Russia. The launch may have been intended as a demonstration to show what it’s capable of, regardless of troop dispatches or other movements.”
To note, the launch of the new missile came after the US warned that North Korea had sent its troops in Russia to join its forces in war against Ukraine.
