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North Korea fires first suspected ICBM since 2017
North Korea fires first suspected ICBM since 2017
By Yoonjung Seo, Gawon Bae, Emiko Jozuka and Brad Lendon, CNN
Updated 7:05 AM ET, Thu March 24, 2022
Seoul, South Korea (CNN)North Korea has fired what is believed to be its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in more than four years as Western leaders gather in Brussels for a security summit.
The suspected ICBM flew to an altitude of 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles) and to a distance of 1,080 kilometers (671 miles) with a flight time of 71 minutes before splashing down in waters off Japan's western coast on Thursday, according to Japan's Defense Ministry.
The altitude would suggest it is a "new type of ICBM," Japan's Vice Defense Minister Makoto Oniki told reporters Thursday. The missile landed inside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone, 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of Oshima Peninsula in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island, the Defense Ministry confirmed.
The suspected ICBM flew to an altitude of 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles) and to a distance of 1,080 kilometers (671 miles) with a flight time of 71 minutes before splashing down in waters off Japan's western coast on Thursday, according to Japan's Defense Ministry.
The altitude would suggest it is a "new type of ICBM," Japan's Vice Defense Minister Makoto Oniki told reporters Thursday. The missile landed inside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone, 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of Oshima Peninsula in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island, the Defense Ministry confirmed.
more:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/24/asia/north-korea-missile-test-intl-hnk/index.html
This is interesting coming at a time when president elect Yoon Seok-yeol, a person with absolutely no military or foreign policy experience has thrown the Ministry of Defense and Joint Chiefs in Yongsan, Seoul, South Korea, into turmoil, in the last week, by pressuring them to get out of their long established building adjacent the old US post there. Yoon says he will definitely not move into the Blue House, and will move into the MND building with his staff on May 10, the date his term as President begins.
The Moon NSC is resisting this move, and is telling Yoon's camp that it will cause a lapse in national security readiness and a threat to the South Korean people. Yoon who seeks advice from a mystic holy man, who some say is a charlatan cult leader, insists that the Moon administration's contentions are groundless. Eleven former Joint Chiefs agree with the Moon administration resistance to the sudden and impetuous declaration by Yoon. Additionally, the move is expected to cause dispersal of military departments to locations across South Korea degrading defense readiness and emergency communications and control. Yoon during his annoucement disclosed the locations of underground bunkers on the MND grounds. There are no provisions under Korean law currently to pay for the move which is expected to cost 1 to 1.6 billion dollars. The national assembly would be required to pass a budget amendment but it is controlled by the democratic party.