Pyongyang: North Korea showcased its military capabilities by testing a new, substantial solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, the “Hwasong-19.” This development comes amid global condemnation over North Korea’s deployment of forces to assist Russia in Ukraine.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the missile was tracked by the South Korean and Japanese militaries and was observed to have flown at a higher altitude than any previous missile launched by Pyongyang. It eventually landed in the ocean between Japan and Russia. North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency lauded the missile, describing it as “the most powerful strategic missile in the world.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who supervised the launch, emphasized that the new intercontinental ballistic missile demonstrates North Korea’s “dominant position in developing and manufacturing nuclear weapons,” asserting that this position is “absolutely irreversible.”

The launch, occurring just days before the U.S. presidential election, drew
swift condemnation from Washington, its allies in South Korea, Japan, Europe, and also from the U.N. secretary-general. A spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry suggested that the launch might have been intended to showcase military technology, exert pressure on Washington, and divert attention from the issue of North Korean troops being sent to Russia.