Head of US mainland defense “North Korea’s ICBM capability achieves insignificant success”

North Korea unveiled a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that can target the US mainland on the 10th of last year at a parade ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Labor Party. [노동신문 홈페이지 캡처]

Concerned about the North Korean Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) threat, the head of the US Army’s Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) responsible for the defense of the US mainland. “I had an alarming success”Made an evaluation. In a written response to the US Senate Military Committee’s hearing on the 16th (local time), US Army Northern Commander Glenn VanHuck said, “The Kim Jong-un regime is a nuclear-armed ICBM, in an experiment to prove its ability to threaten the US mainland. “It was a success,” he said. “The Kim Jong-un regime believes that these weapons are necessary to deter US military action and ensure the regime’s survival.”

Commander Van Huck also pointed out the ICBM, which North Korea introduced during the 75th anniversary of the Labor Party’s founding in October last year, as a specific threat. He said, “North Korea last year Thermonuclear device“We have successfully tested three ICBMs that can significantly increase the destruction potential of our strategic weapons and reach across the United States.” Much bigger, I guess, more capable The system was released to further increase the threat to the United States.”

Earlier, on September 3, 2017, North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test. Later, through Chosun JoongAng TV, Kim Jong-un touched a model of a nuclear warhead with his hand. North Korea introduced it as a’Hwaseong-14 type’ nuclear warhead hydrogen bomb, and the thermonuclear device mentioned by Commander Van Huck seems to have meant this.

North Korea also unveiled a new ICBM loaded on a massive 11-axle, 22-wheel (22-wheel) mobile missile launch pad (TEL) at a fever ceremony in October last year. It is estimated that the scale is larger and the range is much longer than the Hwaseong-15 model previously introduced by North Korea. Among Western experts at the time, ‘Monster’Even the evaluation came out.

Computer graphics depicting the launch of a next-generation missile interceptor (NGI) that the US military intends to introduce. [유튜브 캡처]

In this regard, Commander Van Huck said, “The North Korean regime is not bound by the unilateral nuclear-ICBM test moratorium announced in 2018.” “This indicates that Kim Jong-un can start flight experiments of the improved ICBM in the near future.I pointed out.

Meanwhile, regarding North Korea’s response to the ICBM threat, “the key is to maintain the ability and ability to defend against the threat of ballistic missiles. Deployment of next-generation missile interceptors (NGI) by 2028 at the latest “To keep the schedule,” he said.

Reporter Kim Sang-jin [email protected]