Kim Jong Un warned of “extreme uneasiness and horror” to enemies after North Korea said On Friday that it had tested a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, Hwasong-18, to “radically promote” its nuclear capability.
What Happened: South Korea said Pyongyang fired what appeared to be a new model ballistic missile on Thursday, which also prompted a scare in northern Japan where Hokkaido residents were told to take cover.
“The development of the new-type ICBM Hwasongpho-18 will extensively reform the strategic deterrence components of the DPRK, radically promote the effectiveness of its nuclear counterattack posture and bring about a change in the practicality of its offensive military strategy,” the state media reported.
See Also: Kim Jong Un Calls For Nuclear War Readiness Amid ‘Enemy’s Reckless Moves And Provocations’
Kim guided the test and warned it would make enemies “experience a clearer security crisis, and constantly strike extreme uneasiness and horror into them by taking fatal and offensive counter-actions until they abandon their senseless thinking and reckless acts.”
Why It Matters: This was the first time Kim's isolated nation used solid propellants in an intermediate or intercontinental ballistic missile. The majority of the biggest ballistic missiles of the country rely on liquid fuel, which requires the loading of propellant at the launch site — a procedure that consumes a lot of time.
“Solids are easier and safer for troops to operate in the field and have a much smaller logistical train that makes field-deployed solid missile units harder to detect (and thus more survivable) than liquids,” Vann Van Diepen, a former U.S. government weapons expert told Reuters.
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