Has North Korea tested a new missile that performs better than those fired so far?

A woman walks past a television broadcasting a newscast with archival footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul February 18, 2023. North Korea fired a suspected long-range ballistic missile on February 18, the South Korean military said.

AFP - ANTHONY WALLACE

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that apparently fell into Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone on Saturday, February 18, Tokyo said.

This new North Korean missile launch comes a few days before a joint military simulation exercise between Washington and Seoul and it raises the question: has North Korea tested a new, more efficient vector?

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It flew 66 minutes and traveled 900 km before crashing at sea, west of Hokkaido.

Tokyo estimates that it seemed to have a flight capacity of 14,000 kilometers, thus allowing it to reach the American west coast.

It is therefore a long-range strike ICBM class ballistic missile.

At first glance, the flight dynamics are close to those of a Hwasong 17 that Pyongyang already tested last November.

With one nuance. 

According to the Japanese Ministry of Defense, the missile would have followed a slightly "lofted" or plunging trajectory, that is to say a trajectory whose altitude reached at the apogee is very high, giving the machine a greater high speed at the end of the stroke.

This is the signature of a solid combustion missile.

North Korea has long been trying to develop a solid-burning ICBM.

Because these missiles, if they are faster, are also easier to implement, which makes it possible to reduce the risks of being spotted by the adversary.

A solid-burning North Korean missile is unprecedented, experts say, fearing the launch could signal another escalation in the Pacific.

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To read also North Korea: understand why the country is increasing the firing of missiles

American conviction

The United States has strongly condemned North Korea's firing of 

an "intercontinental ballistic missile

" (ICBM).

“ 

This firing unnecessarily heightens tensions and risks destabilizing security in the region

,” White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson warned.

" 

It constitutes a flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions

," the US official said.

The G7 countries condemned North Korea's "irresponsible behavior" after the missile launch.

" 

North Korea's irresponsible behavior demands a unified response from the international community, including significant new action by the United Nations Security Council,"

the G7 foreign ministers said in a joint statement. following a meeting in Munich.

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