© Reuters
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North Korea has provided images from space, which it claims were taken in the most powerful missile test in years, betrayed BBC.
According to Japan and South Korea, the missile has reached an altitude of 2,000 km (with a maximum of 4,000 km on a standard trajectory).
This is the seventh missile test of the month, but it is the first for this particular model missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead with such a medium range since the United States negotiated with North Korea during Donald Trump’s term.
Pyongyang has confirmed that a Hwasong-12 medium-range ballistic missile was tested today, which could travel thousands of kilometers and hit distant objects such as Guam.
The situation has worried countries such as the United States, South Korea and Japan. According to Seoul and Tokyo, the rocket traveled 800 km, gaining altitude, and then fell into waters off Japan. The State Central Telegraph Agency of the Republic of Korea said the test was a test of the accuracy of the Hwasong-12, and the trajectory was set “with security in mind for neighboring countries.”
North Korea’s ballistic and nuclear programs have been banned by the United Nations and sanctions have been imposed, but Pyongyang has often shown that it will not respect the ban.
Analyst Ankit Panda he thinksthat the language used in the media and the absence of leader Kim Jong Un from the test footage show that the real goal was a technical check, not a demonstration of new technology. Other observers, also quoted by the BBC, said they wanted to put pressure on the United States to return to nuclear talks and demonstrate strength at the regional and global levels.
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