Seoul, South Korea
CNN
–
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watched over the launch of a “new type” of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday alongside his unconfirmed young daughter.
Stunning photos released by the Korean state news agency (KCNA) appear to show Kim holding the girl, while the ICBM sits on its mobile launch pad nearby.
KCNA claimed the “new” missile spotted by the two was the Hwasong-17, saying it was launched from Pyongyang International Airport and traveled 999.2 kilometers (621 miles).
Japan warned after Friday’s launch that the new missile appeared to have the potential range to reach the US mainland.
According to KCNA, Kim said the test was conducted to “clearly demonstrate” his country’s ability to respond to what he called “hysterical aggressive war maneuvers by enemies seeking to destroy peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.” Is.
KCNA said: “Kim Jong-un has officially announced that if enemies continue to threaten North Korea and repeatedly introduce nuclear attack devices, our party and government will resolutely respond to nuclear weapons with nuclear weapons and full confrontation with all-out confrontation.” They will give.”
Friday’s launch, which landed about 210 kilometers (130 miles) west of the Japanese island of Oshima, is not the first time North Korea has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that experts and officials have assessed could reach The idea of theory to reach America.
Friday’s missile was shorter in height and distance than Pyongyang’s March 24 missile test, which marked the highest altitude and longest duration of North Korea’s missile test, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported at the time. According to KCNA, the missile reached an altitude of 6,248.5 kilometers (3,905 miles) and traveled a distance of 1,090 kilometers (681 miles).
And in 2017, then-US Defense Secretary James Mattis said the missile North Korea launched that year demonstrated the ability to hit “everything in the world.”
Despite the theoretical range of this missile, Pyongyang’s ability to place a nuclear warhead on top of it and deliver it to the target has not been proven.
Ballistic missiles are fired into space before falling to Earth. Experts have yet to see conclusive evidence that North Korea can acquire a fiery re-entry warhead.
Kim’s threats to America and South Korea were not new.
After a missile test in October, North Korea’s leader warned enemies that his nuclear forces were fully prepared for “real war.”
“Our nuclear combat forces … have once again proven their full readiness for real war to subdue enemies,” Kim said in a KCNA report.
Very little is known about the private life of Kim Jong Un or his family.
Kim’s daughter, who appeared for the first time in state media, was not named in Saturday’s news report. But in 2013, former basketball star Dennis Rodman told Britain’s Guardian newspaper that Kim had a “baby” named Joe Ae.
Rodman said he spent time with the family, describing Kim as a “good father” and talking to Kim’s wife, Ri Sol Joo.
“I held their baby Ju Ae and I also talked to Mrs. Ri,” he told the newspaper.
In 2012, speculation arose that Rey might be pregnant after state media showed a photo of her wearing a long coat that may have hidden a bump. But North Korean officials remained silent on the issue.
State media did not announce Kim and Ri’s marriage until July 2012, some three years after South Korea’s intelligence agency believed the wedding had taken place.
But that changed in 2018, when North Korean state media gave her the new title of “Honorable First Lady,” a step up from the previously used “comrade” in what analysts said was a sign that she was Get your personality. cult
According to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), Kim and Ri have three children together.
North Korea has been ruled by Kim Il Sung as a hereditary dictatorship since its founding in 1948. His son, Kim Jong Il, assumed power after his father’s death in 1994. And Kim Jong Un took power 17 years later with the death of Kim Jong Il.
