Hwasong-18 - 3rd Flight - 18 December 2023
North Korea launched another long-range ballistic missile on 18 December 2023 with a potential capability of striking the United States, Seoul and Tokyo officials said, extending a record-breaking number of weapons tests this year that have been condemned by the West. This came after South Korea and U.S. officials held talks in Washington over the weekend on how to respond to Pyongyang's nuclear threat together.
Japan’s parliamentary vice-minister of defense, Shingo Miyake, said the missile had a potential range of 15,000km (9,300 miles), “in which case the whole of the US territory would be within range.” The missile traveled for 73 minutes and covered about 1,000km (600 miles), Tokyo’s defense ministry said. It reached a maximum altitude of more than 6,000km (3,750 miles) and fell into waters west of Hokkaido island, outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
A presidential office official announced 15 December 2023 that North Korea may launch an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, within this month. It was also stated that a system for swiftly sharing missile information among South Korea, the United States, and Japan is expected to be operational this year. Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo, who is visiting the U.S. to attend a meeting of the South Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group, says Pyongyang is likely to fire intercontinental ballistic missiles some time this month.
He said the North's ballistic missiles made with ICBM technology are subject to consideration of extended deterrence between Seoul and Washington. This means the two sides will likely discuss the matter at the upcoming talks. The official also mentioned that a trilateral system for sharing alerts on North Korea's missiles in real time with the U.S. and Japan will be completed soon. "The missile warning data sharing system of S. Korea, the U.S. and Japan is almost complete. Its completion will be announced soon via other channels.""
The U.S. Defense Department also said it will start sharing warnings on North Korean missiles among the three countries by the end of this year. Patrick Ryder (U.S. Dept. of Defense Press Secretary) "Regarding the so-called extended deterrence designed to defend South Korea using American nuclear strategic assets, Kim said concrete results have been made by Seoul and Washington in terms of information exchange, joint planning and execution. The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have passed the bill on the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes a defense budget for the 2024 fiscal year amounting to 886 billion dollars."
At about 8:30 AM on Monday morning, North Korea launched what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile toward waters off its east coast. The South Korean military said it was launched from an area near Pyongyang, at a high angle and flew about 1,000 kilometers before landing in the East Sea. It said South Korea, the U.S., and Japan had been maintaining full defense readiness, and added that warning data on the latest missile was shared between the three countries.
This marks the North's fifth ICBM launch this year --the highest number in a single year. It last tested an ICBM less than six months ago, the second test of a solid-fuel Hwasong-18 in July, after conducting the first in April. The South Korean military reportedly believes Monday's missile could have been another test launch of the North's Hwasong-18.
Japan's defense ministry also said the latest missile's flight time and trajectory is similar to that of the solid-fuel Hwasong-18 ICBM launched in July. It added that if it was fired on a normal trajectory, instead of a high angle --it could have flown more than 15,000 kilometers, long enough to strike the U.S. mainland.
The JCS said, that in close coordination with the U.S., it has been tracking the North's preparations for the ballistic missile launch. It added that South Korea, the U.S., and Japan were prepared for joint detection and tracking, and shared North Korean ballistic missile warning information among the three parties. But the JCS said a real-time missile information sharing system, which the three allies plan to complete by the end of this year, is in the final stages of verification.
Monday's launch came less than 12 hours after the North fired a short-range ballistic missile the night before. Launched at about 10:30 PM on Sunday night, it flew about 570 kilometers before falling into the East Sea.
Sunday also marked the 12th anniversary of the death of Kim Jong-un's father, Kim Jong-il. Experts said Sunday's launch could also be aimed at showing off Pyongyang's defense capabilities to strengthen internal solidarity on the anniversary. Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department released a statement condemning Pyongyang's Sunday launch. The statement said the launch, just like other ballistic missile launches this year, violates multiple UN Security Council resolutions and that North Korea is threatening regional stability.
The JCS condemned North Korea's missile launches over the past two days as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions that prohibit the use of ballistic missile technology. It also described the launches as serious provocations that undermine peace and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in the international community.
North Korea's consecutive missile launches appear to be a protest against the second Nuclear Consultative Group, or NCG meeting held in Washington, where South Korea and U.S. officials agreed to conduct nuclear operation exercises in next year's joint military training, to deter Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threats.
The North Korean defense ministry earlier on Sunday strongly criticized the outcome of this meeting, saying this is yet another sign of efforts to streamline war planning and a threat of a potential nuclear weapons attack against the regime.
The national security chiefs of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan have strongly denounced North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as a serious threat to the peace and stability of not only the Korean Peninsula but also Northeast Asia and the international community. The presidential office said National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts Jake Sullivan and Akiba Takeo discussed ways to jointly address the North’s missile launch over a telephone conversation on Monday.
The three officials said the North clearly violated UN Security Council(UNSC) resolutions by launching an ICBM on Monday morning. They agreed to boost three-way cooperation against the North’s provocations by working together at the UNSC, seeking both independent and multilateral sanctions against Pyongyang, devising joint responses in the military sector and cutting off illicit funds flowing into the North's nuclear and missile programs.
The top security chiefs assessed three-way security cooperation using real-time sharing of warning data on the reclusive regime’s missile launches and agreed to further bolster such systems. They also shared the view that Monday’s discussions were held promptly in line with the Commitment to Consult adopted at the Camp David Trilateral Summit in August.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday’s test, as well as that of a shorter-range missile hours beforehand, were “not only a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions but also a threat to peace and stability of the region and we strongly condemn them.”
A spokesperson for the US State Department underscored Japan’s response, saying: “These launches, like the other ballistic missile launches Pyongyang has conducted this year, are in violation of multiple United Nations security council resolutions.”
Ri Chun-hee (Ri Chun Hee or Ri Chun Hui) is a news presenter for Korean Central Television (KCTV) in North Korea. She is known as the "pink lady" because of her bright, traditional attire. Ri is a popular female TV personality who is known for her cheery updates on North Korea's nuclear detonations. She is also known for her distinctive voice and fervent news coverage of missile tests. By 2018, Ri Chun-hee, then 75 years old, had not been seen on TV for a while as younger hosts take her place. But whe was brought out of retirement on special occasions.
The Pink Lady, aka Pyongyang Patti, on 18 December 2023 said "The enemies have determinedly strained the regional situation by staging various kinds of escalated military drills targeting the DPRK every month since January, recording the largest-ever level. And they are now loudly announcing the planned war drills aggressive in nature to be further detailed in the new year. The present situation clearly shows the inveterate confrontation stand of the U.S. and its predominant stooges keen on their unchangeable instinctive and constitutional ambition for aggression and predicts a black augury of total destruction of the security environment in the Korean peninsula to be further aggravated.
"What should not be overlooked is the fact that the U.S. again dispatched its nuclear-powered submarine Missouri to the Korean peninsula, as an extremely provocative action, on Dec. 17 to pose a more grave threat to the security environment of the DPRK and the region, loudly advertising about it, not content with the frequent deployment of nuclear war hardware of various kinds including nuclear strategic bombers, super-large strategic nuclear submarine and nuclear carrier in the Korean peninsula to turn it into an assembly base for all the U.S. nuclear strategic assets.
"Due to the confrontational maneuvers of the U.S. and its puppet military gangsters who are escalating the tension on the Korean peninsula, going in and out the region like their house, the territory of the DPRK and its boundary area are exposed to serious danger every moment and its security and interests are extremely violated. This grave situation is urgently requiring the DPRK to inevitably turn over to a changed action, a more offensive counteraction.
"Under the decision of the WPK Central Military Commission on neutralizing the enemies' intentional and premeditated confrontational military threats with our strong behavioral warning, a drill of launching ICBM Hwasongpho-18 was staged as an important military action to clearly show the DPRK's nuclear strategic forces' overwhelming counteraction will and matchless strength to the enemies.
"Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, watched the launching drill of an ICBM unit on the spot. Accompanying him were commanding officers of the DPRK General Missile Bureau.
"The drill was aimed to review the combat readiness of the DPRK's nuclear war deterrence and confirm its mobility, combat capability and reliability. The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un listened to the plan for the launching drill, acquainting himself with the preparation for launch in a standby district beforehand. Then he mounted the central command observation post to approve the launch of a strategic weapon, and General Jang Chang Ha, general director of the General Missile Bureau, issued a launch order to the Second Red Flag Company.
"The moment, a huge body full of the absolute will and strength to mercilessly retaliate against the hostile forces obsessed with the ambition for nuclear confrontation with the DPRK began soaring into the sky with a shower of fire in its tail, making a deafening explosion. The missile traveled up to a maximum altitude of 6 518.2 km and flew a distance of 1 002.3 km for 4 415s before accurately landing on the preset area in the open waters off the East Sea of Korea.
"The launching drill had no negative effect on the security of the neighboring countries. Through the drill, the combat capability of ICBM unit was highly estimated. And also verified once again were the rapid response posture of the strategic armed forces of the DPRK and the reliability of the most powerful strategic core striking means of the DPRK's military muscle.
"Expressing great satisfaction over the results of the launching drill, Kim Jong Un said with pride that the successful drill is a practical demonstration of the actual condition and reliability of the formidable striking capabilities and absolute nuclear war deterrent possessed by the DPRK's armed forces.
"He said that the launching drill sent a clear signal to the hostile forces, who have fanned up their reckless military confrontation hysteria against the DPRK all the year round and are frantically maximizing it till the end of this year despite the repeated stern warnings and denunciation by the DPRK. Noting that it was an occasion to clearly show what action the DPRK has been prepared and what option the DPRK would take when Washington makes a wrong decision against it, he appreciated that the drill once again and strikingly displayed the DPRK's will for toughest counteraction and its overwhelming strength...."
