LOC11:27
08:27 GMT
TOKYO, March 17 (KUNA) -- North Korea claimed Friday it successfully test-fired a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) a day earlier to "give a stronger warning to the enemies," according to state media.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un guided the launching drill of an ICBM unit on the spot, which served as "an occasion to give a stronger warning to enemies," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
The ICBM, launched from Pyongyang International Airport on Thursday, traveled up to a maximum altitude of 6,045 km and flew 1,000.2 km for 1 hour, 9 minutes and 11 seconds before "accurately landing on the preset area" in the open waters, the agency said.
The North said the launching drill had "no negative impact on the security of neighboring countries," and it confirmed "the war readiness of the ICBM unit and the exceptional militancy of the DPRK's strategic forces and strictly verified their reliability."
Kim expressed great satisfaction over the drill, saying, "The drill clearly proved once again the conviction and guarantee of the operating systems of the nuclear strategic forces undergoing rapid development."
The North Korean leader also stressed the need to "strike fear into the enemies" and "really deter war" by irreversibly bolstering up the nuclear war deterrent, the KCNA said. He accused the US and South Korea of showing "open hostility" towards the North and frequently staging large-scale military drills on and around the Korean Peninsula.
The ICBM is known to have a range of over 13,000 km, long enough to target the continental US. The latest launch came amid the ongoing South Korea-US military exercises starting from Monday. It also took place just hours before Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held a summit in Tokyo, in which they discussed security cooperation to counter the North's nuclear and missile threats. (end)
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