North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to provide his country with “fearsome” and unstoppable military might. These remarks relayed on Monday by state media come a few days after the successful firing of the most powerful missile ever launched by the country.
Last week, the country tested a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the first since 2017. Called Hwasong-17, this powerful ICBM was first unveiled in November 2020 and dubbed a “monster missile” by experts. analysts.
“Only when equipped with formidable strike capabilities, with overwhelming power” can the country “contain and control all threats and blackmail from the imperialists”, Kim Jong Un told staff who attended. took part in the shooting, North Korean news agency KCNA reported. “We will continue to achieve our goal of strengthening national defense capabilities, developing more powerful strike means for our people’s army to be equipped with them.”
Objective: reach any part of the American territory
The missile launched last week appears to have flown further and higher than previous ICBMs so far tested by nuclear-armed North Korea. It is designed to strike any part of US territory. According to analysts, this successful launch would have reinforced the conviction of the leader that his country is on the right track to win the nuclear deterrent and that he will undertake other tests of such powerful weapons.
Long-range nuclear and missile tests were halted when Kim Jong Un and then US President Donald Trump engaged in diplomatic talks. The latter have been at a standstill since the failure of the Hanoi summit (Vietnam) in 2019.
Since the beginning of the year, Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, has carried out a dozen tests. Last week’s launch marks the resumption of long-range shooting. This essay also comes as South Korea is in a period of presidential transition and the United States has its sights set on war in Ukraine.