SEOUL, April 13, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - North Korea likely fired a "new type" of
ballistic missile Thursday that may have used advanced solid fuel, Seoul's
military said, representing a potential technical breakthrough for
Pyongyang's banned weapons programs.

"North Korea appears to have fired a new type of ballistic missile, possibly
using solid fuel," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff told AFP.

All of Pyongyang's known intercontinental ballistic missiles are liquid-
fuelled, and solid-fuel ICBMs that can be launched from land or submarines
have long been on top of leader Kim Jong Un's wish list.

Such missiles are easier to store and transport, more stable and quicker to
prepare for launch, and thus harder to detect and destroy pre-emptively.

At a military parade in Pyongyang in February, North Korea showed off a
record number of nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missiles, including
what analysts said was possibly a new solid-fuelled ICBM.

Seoul's military on Thursday said it had detected one "medium range or
longer" ballistic missile launched on a lofted trajectory -- up not out --
from the Pyongyang area at 0723 (1023 GMT), which flew 1,000 km (621 miles).

Japan, which briefly issued a seek shelter warning to residents of the
northern Hokkaido region, said the missile had not fallen within the
country's territory and posed no threat to residents.

Climate and environment ministers from the Group of Seven are due to meet
this weekend in Sapporo, Hokkaido's regional capital, a month before the
group holds its summit in Hiroshima.

The United States said it "strongly condemns" North Korea for the test of
what it described as a "long-range ballistic missile".

The launch is the latest in a string of banned weapons tests conducted by
North Korea, which has already fired several of its most powerful
intercontinental ballistic missiles this year.

It has also tested what its state media has claimed are nuclear-capable
underwater drones -- known as Haeil, the Korean word for tsunami -- which it
says are capable of unleashing a "radioactive tsunami".

On Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a meeting of the Central
Military Commission to discuss ways to "cope with the escalating moves of the
US imperialists and the south Korean puppet traitors to unleash a war of
aggression", Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency said.

Kim ordered that the country's deterrence capabilities be strengthened with
"increasing speed" and in a "more practical and offensive" manner.

- 'Real war' -

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years,
with Pyongyang last year declaring itself an "irreversible" nuclear power,
effectively ending the possibility of denuclearisation talks.

Earlier this year, Kim ordered the military to intensify drills to prepare
for a "real war".

In response, Washington and Seoul have intensified defence cooperation,
staging joint military exercises with advanced stealth jets and high-profile
US strategic assets.

North Korea views such exercises as rehearsals for invasion, and on Tuesday
described them as "frantic" drills "simulating an all-out war against"
Pyongyang.

The latest test was likely a bid by the North "to put pressure on the South
and the United States over their joint military exercises," Choi Gi-il,
professor of military studies at Sangji University, told
AFP.

South Korea on Tuesday also accused North Korea of being "irresponsible"
after Pyongyang cut hotline contact with Seoul last week.

North Korea has not answered the twice-daily calls made through a military
hotline and an inter-Korean liaison channel since Friday, according to
Seoul's unification ministry.

The links were cut a day after Seoul accused Pyongyang of continued
unauthorised use of a joint industrial complex in the North Korean city of
Kaesong.

"Pyongyang's provocations continue past its protest of US-South Korea defense
exercises because Kim Jong Un hasn't finished demonstrating his nuclear
delivery capabilities yet," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha
University in Seoul.

"However, with the North Koreans literally not answering the phone, the lack
of hotlines and diplomacy increases the risk of unintended escalation."