"Eventual provocation towards the U.S."Kim Jong-un "Stable to Strengthen Nuclear Weapons"

North Korea provokes its first ICBM this year...Hwasong-18 launched in December last year
South Korean and U.S. Defense Ministers "condemn North Korean troops"...Launch in 5 hours
It seems to be intended to distract attention from the dispatch of troops
Five days before the U.S. presidential election, ICBM provocation 'possible to target the mainland'

[Anchor]
Regarding North Korea's provocation, the South Korean government analyzed that it is an event to turn its attention to sending troops to Russia while increasing its bargaining power ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

Chairman Kim Jong-un, who visited the launch site, threatened to affirm that he would never change his nuclear force strengthening line.

I'm reporter Lee Jong-gu.

[Reporter]
This is the first time this year that North Korea has provoked an ICBM.

In particular, it has been 10 months since the launch of the solid-fuel ICBM Hwasong-18 in December last year.

The ICBM launch came five hours after the defense ministers of South Korea and the U.S. held a Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Washington on the 30th local time and announced that they "strongly condemn" North Korea's dispatch of troops to Russia.

It is analyzed that it is intended to distract the international community's attention to the dispatch of troops while expressing dissatisfaction with this.

There's another point of view to pay attention to.

This is because it has launched an ICBM provocation that can target the mainland just five days before the U.S. presidential election.

[Lee Sung-joon / Joint Chiefs of Staff: We believe that the strategy is to increase North Korea's bargaining power and that there is a possibility of an event to escape from the current situation]

The plan is to show off its presence toward the United States, but North Korea seems to have controlled the level of provocation by firing ICBM at a high angle instead of a normal angle.

North Korea's position came out quickly, too.

State Councilor Kim Jong-un, who visited the launch site, insisted that the ICBM launch is an appropriate military activity to signal his willingness to respond to the enemy.

North Korea's Korean Central News Agency said the launch is essential in the process of constantly upgrading its strategic offensive capabilities, saying it is certain that it will never change its nuclear armament.

I'm YTN Lee Jong-gu.

Reporter:
Filming: Woo Young-taek
Video editing: Ma Young-hoo