North Korean regime tested new long-range missile

North Korean regime passed litmus test this weekend a new type of long-range cruise missile, according to what was reported this Sunday by Yonhap, citing the official agency KCNA.

“The development of the long-range cruise missile, a strategic weapon of great importance […] it has been conducted in accordance with the scientific and reliable process of weapon system development over the past two years “, reported KCNA.

According to the report, the exercise included checking engine thrust scores on the ground, “various flight tests”, control and guidance tests, as well as evaluating warhead power.

The missiles traveled 1,500 km (930 miles) before reaching their targets and landing in the country’s territorial waters, the official agency detailed.

The development of missiles brings “the strategic importance of having another effective deterrent to guarantee more reliably the security of our State and to contain with force the military maneuvers of the hostile forces”, declared the Minister. KCNA.

Korean Labor Party leaders and other senior defense officials and scientists attended the launch.

This new missile test It came days after the military parade that Kim Jong-un’s dictatorship held last week to celebrate the 73rd anniversary of the founding of North Korea., in which mechanized paramilitary units, rocket launchers and anti-tank weapons participated.

According to KCNA, no nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles were exposed during the parade.

A few weeks ago, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) denounced that North Korea has returned to service its nuclear reactor and atomic fuel reprocessing facilities this year., according to an agency report which qualifies these activities as “deeply worrying”.

According to the document, since the beginning of July “there have been indications, in particular of cooling water discharges, compatible with the operation of the experimental reactor” of 5 megawatts electric at the Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center, about a hundred kilometers away. north of Pyonyang.

North Korean regime obtains fuel for nuclear devices it has tested to date at Yongbyon facility, to which the UN nuclear body does not have access.

The IAEA points out that between December 2018, when Pyongyang was preparing to open diplomatic negotiations with Washington, and at the beginning of last July, it had detected no indication that the fission unit had been commissioned.

The report, based on analysis of satellite images and other information, adds that the Yongbyon Radiochemical Laboratory’s steam plant – responsible for reprocessing fuel used in the reactor to obtain plutonium for atomic bombs – is operational. since mid-February. this year until early July.

When this information became known, the American general Glen Van Herck He issued a strong warning to North Korea and said the United States was ready for any threat from the Kim Jong-un regime. “I am confident in our abilities. We remain ready to react if North Korea decides to launch a missile. “

Talks to dismantle Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile program in return for US sanctions relief, have stagnated since 2019.

In recent months, the Kim Jong-un dictatorship has threatened to expand its nuclear program if the United States does not withdraw its “hostile policy” towards the country, in apparent reference to the sanctions and military exercises that Washington is carrying out with the United States. South Korea.

Read on: