NYT WORLD: North Korea Launches ICBM
By Choe Sang-Hun
Section: World
Source: New York Times
Published Date: February 18, 2023 at 02:00AM
It was the North’s first test of a long-range missile in three months, and came as the country warned of strong countermeasures against joint military drills by the United States and South Korea.
SEOUL — North Korea launched what South Korea called an intercontinental ballistic missile off its east coast on Saturday, a day after vowing to take “unprecedentedly persistent and strong” counteractions against the joint military drills that the United States and South Korea plan for this spring.
The launch was the North’s first missile test since New Year’s Day, when it fired a short-range ballistic missile, and its first ICBM test since Nov. 18, when it fired the Hwasong-17, the North’s most powerful long-range missile.
So far, all of the North’s ICBMs have been launched at a deliberately steep angle, so that they fly high into space rather than over Japan toward the Pacific. But flight data from the Hwasong-17 test indicated that if launched at a normal angle, the missile theoretically could reach the United States.
The South Korean military said that the most recent ICBM was launched on Saturday from near the international airport in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, and flew about 560 miles to the east. Because this missile, like previous ones, was fired at a lofted angle, it fell into waters west of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, according to both Japanese and South Korean officials.
Japan’s defense minister, Yasukazu Hamada, told reporters that the North Korean missile had reached an altitude of roughly 3,540 miles. If fired at a normal ICBM trajectory, the missile could have traveled about 8,700 miles, enough to reach anywhere in the entire continental United States, he said.
By Choe Sang-Hun
Section: World
Source: New York Times
Published Date: February 18, 2023 at 02:00AM
It was the North’s first test of a long-range missile in three months, and came as the country warned of strong countermeasures against joint military drills by the United States and South Korea.
SEOUL — North Korea launched what South Korea called an intercontinental ballistic missile off its east coast on Saturday, a day after vowing to take “unprecedentedly persistent and strong” counteractions against the joint military drills that the United States and South Korea plan for this spring.
The launch was the North’s first missile test since New Year’s Day, when it fired a short-range ballistic missile, and its first ICBM test since Nov. 18, when it fired the Hwasong-17, the North’s most powerful long-range missile.
So far, all of the North’s ICBMs have been launched at a deliberately steep angle, so that they fly high into space rather than over Japan toward the Pacific. But flight data from the Hwasong-17 test indicated that if launched at a normal angle, the missile theoretically could reach the United States.
The South Korean military said that the most recent ICBM was launched on Saturday from near the international airport in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, and flew about 560 miles to the east. Because this missile, like previous ones, was fired at a lofted angle, it fell into waters west of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, according to both Japanese and South Korean officials.
Japan’s defense minister, Yasukazu Hamada, told reporters that the North Korean missile had reached an altitude of roughly 3,540 miles. If fired at a normal ICBM trajectory, the missile could have traveled about 8,700 miles, enough to reach anywhere in the entire continental United States, he said.
Read More at: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/18/world/asia/north-korea-missile-launch.html
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