North Korea confirmed Sunday (February 19) that it fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Saturday as a warning to Washington that the successful “surprise” exercise demonstrates “its deadly nuclear counterattack capabilities.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered a surprise “launch exercise” at 8 a.m. local time (midnight Paris) on Saturday. A Hwasong-15 missile was then fired from Pyongyang airport during the afternoon, according to the state agency KCNA. The first test of a Hwasong-15 was conducted by Pyongyang in 2017.

The South Korean military said it detected the launch of an ICBM on Saturday at 5:22 p.m. local time (9:22 a.m. Paris time) which Tokyo said flew for 66 minutes before falling in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). and which, according to his observations, would be capable of striking the American continent.

North Korean authorities hailed the test – the country’s first in seven weeks – which they said demonstrates “the effective (combat) capability of ICBM units, capable (of carrying out) a mobile and powerful counterattack “, according to KCNA. The launch is “clear evidence” of the reliability of Pyongyang’s “powerful physical nuclear deterrent”, the agency added.

He came as South Korea and the United States prepare to conduct a simulation exercise, to be held next week in Washington, to discuss what to do if the nuclear weapon by Pyongyang.

Pyongyang on Friday threatened to react with “unprecedented” force to the upcoming US-South Korean maneuvers, seeing them as preparations for an armed conflict and the cause of a deterioration of the security situation on the Korean peninsula.

According to US-based security expert Ankit Panda, Saturday’s test is of considerable significance because the firing “was ordered the same day, so it’s not a traditional test, but a ‘an exercise “. “We should expect to see additional exercises of this type,” he told Agence France-Presse.

This exercise appears to be “Kim’s way of telling the United States and (South Korea) that his country continues to improve its ballistic missile skills for possible use in a real-time scenario.” , observes Soo Kim, a former CIA analyst.

“Weapons are not just for display,” she told Agence France-Presse, adding, however, that the nine hours between Kim Jong-un’s order and the shooting is “a long time “. She said Pyongyang could face “greater challenges” if it launches under “realistic” conditions.

Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul are already at their lowest level in years. In 2022, the North called its status as a nuclear power “irreversible” and Kim Jong-un called for an “exponential” growth in the production of armaments, including tactical nuclear weapons.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, in response, sought to strengthen cooperation with the United States, his key security ally, pledging to increase joint military exercises and improve the Washington’s expanded offer of deterrence, including nuclear means.

On Sunday, Pyongyang’s spokeswoman and sister to its leader, Kim Yo-jong, said it was these measures taken by Seoul and Washington that “constantly endanger” the peninsula and deteriorate its “stability”, according to KCNA. “I warn that we will monitor every movement of the enemy and engage the corresponding, very powerful and overwhelming countermeasure against all such movements hostile towards us,” she added.

This shooting as well as these declarations of Pyongyang seem to announce “the beginning of high intensity provocations on the part of North Korea”, estimated for Agence France-Presse Park Won-gon, professor at Ewha University. “What’s different from 2022 is that last year their rationale was that the launches were part of their five-year military plan,” he describes, adding, “Now they are making it clear that they (will face) in the United States and South Korea. »

According to Park Won-gon, the increased aggressiveness of Pyongyang could indicate a worsening of its situation on the national level. South Korean officials recently signaled that the country could face severe food shortages after several years of self-imposed pandemic isolation.

“North Korea always takes an intransigent approach and creates external crises […] to overcome its internal difficulties. Uniting the population by insisting on the American-South Korean threat is a classic North Korean attitude,” he said.