THE North Korea shot two rockets unidentified ballistics, this Sunday (18), in the Sea of Japan. O The launch comes days after Pyongyang announced successful testing of a solid fuel motor to a new military system, the South Korean military said.
“North Korea has launched an unidentified ballistic missile” into the Sea of Japan, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The move comes after Pyongyang announced the development of a “highthrust solidfuel engine,” which state media described as an important test “for the development of a new type of strategic weapon.”
In spite of harsh international sanctions against its war programNorth Korea has built up an arsenal of ICBMs.
All known ICBMs to date have used liquid fuel, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made the development of solidfuel engines a strategic priority for more advanced missiles.
Kim said earlier this year he wanted North Korea to have the world’s most powerful nuclear power and that its status as a nuclear country was “irreversible”. While recent engine tests demonstrate that goal, it was unclear how far along Pyongyang was in developing a solidfuel rocket, analysts said.
North Korea has conducted an unprecedented number of weapons tests this year, including launching its most advanced ICBM. Washington and Seoul have warned that this could mark the start of North Korea’s seventh nuclear test.
According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, the rockets flew about 500 km and reached a maximum altitude of 550 km. “This is a threat to the peace and security of our country, this region and the international community and is absolutely unacceptable,” said Japanese Deputy Defense Minister Toshiro Ino.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen this year with an unprecedented wave of weapons tests by the North, including the November launch of its most advanced ICBM.