10/12/2020, 10.33
NORTH KOREA
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Pyongyang unveils new 'super missile'

It was unveiled during a parade marking the 75th anniversary of the Workers' Party along with a strategic weapon that can be launched from a submarine. The new intercontinental missile could mount multiple warheads and hit the US and Europe. Seoul: Fact check it’s not a fake model.

Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - North Korea has unveiled a new intercontinental missile. The South Korean Ministry of Defense reported that the new weapon was paraded on 10 October during the military spectacle to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party, in power in the North since the end of World War II.

The next-generation ballistic missile was unveiled alongside a carrier capable of being armed with nuclear warheads that can be launched from a submarine (North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hinted at its existence in his New Year's speech).

From the analysis of the images published by Pyongyang, the new weapon is larger than the ICBMs tested so far by the Kim regime. According to the Seoul military, it can mount multiple warheads, with a higher explosive charge than in the past: a significant step forward for North Korean capabilities, reached moreover at a time of serious economic crisis.

Seoul, however, also pointed out that the new superweapon still has to be completely evaluated: it could also be a false model. In 2017, North Korea tested the Hwasong-15, on paper capable of hitting the continental territory of the United States and Western Europe.

Kim suspended military plans against South Korea last June. The North Korean leader had previously threatened to send troops into the demilitarized zone between the two countries. He was responding to the launch of defamatory leaflets into North Korea by North Korean dissidents who had fled to the South.

The two Koreas are technically at war; Pyongyang and Seoul never signed a peace treaty at the end of the conflict that divided them 1950 to 1953.

Since Kim's two meetings (in 2018 and 2019) with US President Donald Trump, North Korea has no longer carried out nuclear tests and has limited missile tests. Analysts note that the October 10 parade could be used by Pyongyang to restart talks with the United States on its nuclear program.

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