Kim unveils a missile and his daughter – Liberation

Accompanied by his daughter, the North Korean leader supervised the launch of its latest ICBM on Friday. What motivates the United States and its allies to redeploy the B-1B strategic bomber to the Korean peninsula and convene an emergency meeting.

A father and his daughter, holding hands, bathe in the autumn sun. She is wearing a white down jacket, red shoes. Him in a khaki jacket and black pants. With the youngest in the background: a gigantic Hwasong-17 missile unveiled on Friday 18 November. The family photo was made public on Saturday by state news agency KCNA. “North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch of his latest ICBM accompanied by his daughter who he unveiled to the world for the first time”, confirmed the state agency KCNA in a message published this Saturday morning, specifying that Kim Jong Un was also accompanied by his wife. And beyond the familial romance, the state agency has of course hailed the “blow“of the launch of the last North Korean ICBM that crashed in the Sea of ​​Japan, off the island of Hokkaido, by chartering a”test shot» who “clearly demonstrated the reliability of the new large strategic weapons system“, he points out. Friday’s launch confirms “that once again the nuclear forces of North Korea (note: North Korea) have achieved a new maximum reliable capability to contain any nuclear threat”adds KCNA.

North Korea’s national news agency said the missile had arrived “a maximum altitude of 6,040.9 km” et “travelled a distance of 999.2 km” come on “land precisely on the predefined area” in the Sea of ​​Japan. And the distance and altitude match the estimates provided by Seoul and Tokyo on Friday. Data slightly lower than that of the previous ICBM launched from Pyongyang on March 24, which was its most powerful a priori test ever, before Seoul finally expressed doubts about its success. But this time around, international analysts agree that the test conducted on Friday appears to have been successful. “This launch is significant because it is (probably) the first successful test. of this missile, Joseph Dempsey, a researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), stressed to AFP.

The Hwasong-17, which is among Pyongyang’s most powerful weapons, has been dubbed the “monstrous missileby military analysts. According to the images, the missile itself is 26 meters long. Earlier this month, on November 2 alone, Kim Jong Un’s regime launched 23 missiles, one of which crashed not far from South Korea’s territorial waters. An unprecedented explosion, more than in all of 2017 , when leader Kim Jong Un and former US President Donald Trump threatened each other with a nuclear apocalypse. According to Soo Kim, a former analyst with the US intelligence agency CIA, Friday’s launch is a testament to this “the permanence of the Kim regime’s weapons program as integral to its very survival and the continuity of his family’s rule.” “It also partially answers questions about succession”this analyst, now at RAND Corporation, added to AFP. “We saw the fourth generation of Kim with our own eyes. And his daughter, along with other potential siblings, will certainly be taken care of by her father.he observed.

The United States deploys bombers to the Korean peninsula

Amid growing tensions on the Korean peninsula, Kim also reiterated that he will not hesitate to use the atomic bomb in the event of a nuclear attack on his country. Enough to motivate the United Nations Security Council to meet urgently on Monday to discuss a situation that continues to worsen. In recent months, the United States, South Korea and Japan have stepped up joint military maneuvers since Kim Jong Un declared in September that North Korea’s nuclear state status was “irreversibleAnd yesterday’s launch of a new intercontinental missile isn’t helping matters. The South Korean military announced on Saturday that a US B-1B bomber was redeployed to the Korean peninsula as part of new exercises carried out by the two allies. Although the B-1B no longer carries nuclear weapons, is described by the United States Air Force as “the backbone of the U.S. long-range bomber force”, capable of hitting anywhere in the world. “South Korea and the United States today conducted a joint air exercise with the United States Air Force B-1B strategic bomber redeployed to the Korean peninsula.the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South said in a press release. Some of the most advanced jets of the US and South Korean air forces also took part in the exercise, including the F-35 stealth fighter, according to the same source.

By late October and early November, Seoul and Washington had already conducted the largest joint air exercises in their history. North Korea is particularly sensitive to joint US-South Korea air exercises, as its air force is its Achilles heel. For Pyongyang, these displays of force are akin to dress rehearsals for an invasion of its territory or an attempt to overthrow the regime. For Kim Jong Un, it is “war exercises of hysterical aggression”. Through his news agency, he promised to fight back “definitely to nuclear weapons with nuclear weapons and total confrontation with ruthless confrontation”.