North Korea Tests 1st Ever Solid Fuel ICBM

By Staff, Agencies 

North Korea has announced the successful test of its first solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile [ICBM], a key goal of leader Kim Jong Un’s plan to develop more advanced and powerful weaponry.

The test was detected on Thursday by South Korea and Japan, which briefly ordered residents on its northern island of Hokkaido to evacuate.

North Korean state media confirmed the launch of the missile, dubbed the Hwasong-18, on Friday morning.

The event was supervised by Kim, who was accompanied by his wife, young daughter and sister Kim Yo Jong.

“A new type of intercontinental ballistic missile was test fired on Thursday as the key means of strategic military force,” the official Korean Central News Agency [KCNA] said, describing the test as a “miraculous success”.

The news agency cited Kim as saying the Hwasong-18 would rapidly advance North Korea’s nuclear response posture and further support an aggressive military strategy that promises to maintain “nuke for nuke and an all-out confrontation for an all-out confrontation” against its rivals.

“The Hwasong-18 weapons system to be run by the country’s strategic forces would play its mission and role to defend [North Korea], deter invasions and preserve the country’s safety as its most powerful method,” KCNA said.

Solid fuel missiles are safer to use, easier to maneuver and faster to deploy than liquid-propelled variants, which need to be loaded at the launch site and were a key part of a five-year arms development plan Kim unveiled in 2021.

The Hwasong-18, which KCNA described as a three-stage missile, was fired from near Pyongyang and flew for about 1,000km before falling into waters east of North Korea.