North Korea says conducted new test of solid-fuel ICBM

North Korea says conducted new test of solid-fuel ICBM
By Kang Jin-kyu
Seoul (AFP) July 13, 2023

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally oversaw the successful test of the country's newest intercontinental ballistic missile, state media reported Thursday, days after Pyongyang threatened to down any US spy planes that enter its airspace.

A beaming Kim, flanked by his wife and key aides, was shown in state media images applauding enthusiastically after the launch of the solid-fuel Hwasong-18 on Wednesday.

The ICBM, which North Korea has fired only once before, in April, flew 1,001 kilometres at a maximum altitude of 6,648 km before splashing into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

The launch was a "grand explosion" that shook "the whole planet", KCNA said. State media footage showed the missile blasting off into the sky.

Kim vowed that "a series of stronger military offensive" would be launched until the United States and South Korea change their policies towards North Korea, the agency added.

Citing the "unstable situation" on the Korean peninsula, Kim also called for "more intense efforts" to boost North Korea's nuclear arsenal.

The confirmation of the launch -- which the South Korean military had reported on Wednesday -- came with relations between the two Koreas at one of their lowest points ever.

Diplomacy is stalled and Kim has called for ramping up weapons development, including tactical nukes.

In response, Seoul and Washington have boosted security cooperation, vowing that Pyongyang would face a nuclear response and the "end" of its current government were it to ever use its nuclear weapons against the allies.

Seoul described Wednesday's launch as "a grave provocation that damages the peace and security of the Korean peninsula". The United Nations, the United States and its allies also strongly condemned it.

Japan's top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that the test appeared to be of the same solid-fuel ICBM missile first fired in April -- warning such missiles "have an advantage in immediate launch" over Pyongyang's liquid fueled missiles.

- 'Provocative' US actions -

Wednesday's test was conducted from a launchpad made to look like a natural park surrounded by ponds and trees at a Kim family private mansion on the east side of Pyongyang, Seoul-based specialist site NK News reported.

It came after North Korea on Monday accused a US spy plane of violating its airspace and condemned Washington's plans to deploy a nuclear missile submarine near the Korean peninsula.

The US has "intensified espionage activities beyond the wartime level" with "provocative" spy plane flights, Pyongyang said.

"There is no guarantee that such shocking accident as downing of the US Air Force strategic reconnaissance plane will not happen in the East Sea of Korea," a North Korean defence spokesperson said.

Kim's powerful sister Kim Yo Jong also slammed the purported US spy aircraft airspace violations, and warned that North Korea would take "decisive action" if its maritime military demarcation line was crossed.

The United States said in April that one of its nuclear-armed ballistic submarines would visit a South Korean port for the first time in decades, without specifying an exact date.

South Korea and the United States are set to start their major annual joint military exercises, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, next month.

North Korea regards all such exercises as rehearsals for invasion and has described them as "frantic" drills "simulating an all-out war against" Pyongyang.

"I expect the North to continue firing missiles similar to Hwasong-18 through the end of August while the joint South Korea-US military exercises are scheduled," Choi Gi-il, a professor of military studies at Sangji University, told AFP.

Although conducting ICBM launches is expensive, particularly given the dire economic conditions in North Korea with reports of food shortages and starvation, Choi said Pyongyang had "got enough missiles ready" to continue its testing blitz.

Recent satellite images suggest Pyongyang is preparing for a massive military parade later this month to mark the July 27 Korean War armistice anniversary, known as Victory Day in the North.

North Korea's solid-fuel ICBM: five things to know
Seoul (AFP) July 13, 2023 - North Korea said Thursday it has successfully tested the Hwasong-18, its new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, for the second time.

The test on Wednesday unlocks a major breakthrough for North Korea's banned weapons programmes, but what exactly is a solid-fuel missile and why does it matter that Pyongyang has one?

What is a solid-fuel missile?

With this type of missile, the fuel that powers it is made of a solid chemical mixture.

"This propellant is cast into the missile's airframe when the missile is built: imagine a firecracker rocket, ready to go," Ankit Panda, a nuclear policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told AFP.

In contrast, liquid-fueled missiles typically require that the fuel and an oxidiser be inserted into the missile before they can be fired -- a slower and more cumbersome process.

Why is it better?

Preparing a liquid-fuel missile for launch "takes time just like pumping gasoline to your car", said Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute.

And once a liquid-fuel missile is prepared, he added, "it has to be fired within a short period of time."

Solid-fuel missiles need to be stored, maintained and handled carefully and if this is not done, the quality of the missile can degrade over time, which could cause it to fail.

They are generally quicker to deploy and have "an advantage in immediate launch", Japan's top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters, saying that this week's test appeared to be of the same solid-fuel ICBM missile that North Korea fired in April.

Are North Korean solid-fuel ICBMs operational now?

Images of both the April and July launches show the missile's exhaust plume, which is consistent with a dirty, smoky solid propellant at work.

"The shape of flame is consistent with solid-fueled missiles -- with the long white smoke coming out of the propellant seconds after liftoff being most demonstrative," Han Kwon-hee of the Missile Strategy Forum told AFP.

The launches look technically similar, he said, indicating the second test "was intended to verify and certify the accuracy and precision of the Hwasong-18".

North Korea's main liquid-fueled ICBMs have been tested repeatedly -- but only on a lofted trajectory, which is not how they would be used in a real-life situation. That leaves key questions about their performance.

But as North Korea's threshold for what is effectively fielded is likely different from others, the new weapon may be considered operational even if other militaries would require more testing.

Who else has solid-fuel missiles?

Most militaries first start off with liquid-fuel missile technology but soon strive to acquire solid-fuel missiles, which require more advanced technology.

However, not all advanced militaries exclusively deploy solid-fuel missiles.

The United States deploys solid-fuel ICBMs and SLBMs, but Russia and China both still operate large liquid-fueled missiles, experts say.

South Korea, for its part, has the technical capacity for solid-fuel missiles, and even has some in its arsenal, "but their range is limited to cover the Korean peninsula", Kim Jong-dae of the Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies told AFP.

Is this a game-changer?

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un claims the Hwasong-18 solid fuel ICBM will "radically promote" the country's nuclear counterattack capabilities, and experts say it could indeed change the security situation on the peninsula.

South Korea's self-defence plan relies in part on a so-called Kill Chain preemptive strike system, which allows Seoul to launch a preemptive attack if a North Korean attack is imminent.

The Hwasong-18 would be far harder to detect, which could upend this preemptive strike formula -- although South Korea's defence ministry has dismissed this fear as "excessive worry".

But if North Korea were to deploy solid-fuel ICBMs, it would "signal a game-changer in possible warfare with them", the Yonsei Institute's Kim told AFP.

"The South's existing plan in case of war with the North is to preemptively strike and destroy the North's missile system after confirming signs of launch preparations," he said.

"But there will be no such signs if the North Koreans prepare solid-fuel missiles aiming at the South."