SEOUL - North Korea said it had tested the isolated state’s newest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Dec 18 to gauge the war readiness of its nuclear force against mounting United States hostility, as Washington and its allies began operating a real-time missile data sharing system.

North Korean state media KCNA said on Dec 19 that leader Kim Jong Un watched the launch of the Hwasong-18 ICBM at a site east of the capital, Pyongyang. The missile reached an altitude of 6,518km, flying 1,002km and accurately hitting the intended target, an empty patch of sea.

Mr Kim said the launch sends “a clear signal to the hostile forces, who have fanned up their reckless military confrontation hysteria” against the North throughout the year.

Mr Kim said the drill “displayed the DPRK’s will for toughest counteraction and its overwhelming strength”. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.

He presented “some new important tasks for accelerating the development of the DPRK’s nuclear strategic forces”, KCNA said without elaborating.

“The US imperialists and their vassal forces’ vicious ambition for confrontation will not abate of its own accord,” he said, stressing the need for the DPRK to never overlook all the reckless and irresponsible military threats of the enemies.

South Korea and Japan said on Dec 18 that the North had fired an ICBM with a range to hit anywhere in the US.

The launch was condemned by South Korea, Japan and the US as a flagrant violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

On the same day, China, a Security Council permanent member that has previously approved sanctions against Pyongyang, held a high-level meeting with North Korea in Beijing, discussing cooperation and issues of “common concern” in “a friendly atmosphere”, the countries’ state media said.

The UN Security Council is due to meet on Dec 19 at the request of the US and other countries to discuss the launch.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who has taken a hard line against Pyongyang since taking office in 2022, said Mr Kim’s regime “will come to realise provocative actions will only bring greater pain to itself”.

Missile detection system

In a joint announcement on Dec 19, South Korea, Japan and the US said they had activated a system to detect and assess North Korea’s missile launches in real-time and established a multi-year trilateral military exercise plan.

Separately, national security officials of the three countries held a video conference about curbing North Korea’s illicit cyber activities, which may be channelling funds to its weapons programs, Mr Yoon’s office said.

On Dec 17, the North condemned a US military show of force, including the arrival of an aircraft carrier and nuclear-powered submarine in South Korea, as “war” moves, and fired a short-range ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast.

South Korea said Dec 18’s missile launch was a solid-fuel Hwasong-18. It flew in a sharply lofted trajectory and landed in the sea west of Japan’s Hokkaido island.

North Korea’s state media published what it said were photographs of the launch, showing the missile blasting off from a snow-covered field trailing a plume of smoke.

North Korea’s description of a “launching drill” was its first such characterisation for an ICBM and showed it went beyond developmental testing to assess counteraction capabilities, Ms Jenny Town, director of the Washington-based 38 North project, said on X.

The ICBM’s lofted trajectory and 74-minute flight time are compatible with an operational range of up to 15,000km if launched at a flatter, standard trajectory, which puts all of the mainland US within reach, Japanese defence officials said.

North Korea also criticised a high-level meeting between US and South Korean officials last week, when upgraded responses to nuclear threats and joint military drills were discussed.

The US continued to demonstrate a confrontational attitude by bringing in nuclear-powered submarines, strategic bombers and an aircraft carrier near the Korean peninsula, it said.

The US nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Missouri arrived in the South Korean port of Busan on Dec 17, the latest US strategic military asset to be deployed as part of Washington’s pact with Seoul to boost defence readiness.

The US and South Korea have increased the intensity of joint military drills against threats from the North, which has tested a range of ballistic missiles and in November launched its first military spy satellite. REUTERS