Kim Jong Un says ‘when Washington makes a wrong decision,’ ICBM launch proves best option

Kim Jong Un told North Korean newspapers this week that the country’s recent successful missile launch proves he has options against aggression from Washington, D.C.

Kim, the supreme leader of North Korea, celebrated the country’s “overwhelming strength” following the launch, according to state outlets.

“Noting that it was an occasion to clearly show what action the DPRK has been prepared and what option the DPRK would take when Washington makes a wrong decision against it, [Kim] appreciated that the drill once again and strikingly displayed the DPRK’s will for toughest counteraction and its overwhelming strength,” an article in Korea Central News Daily read.

“DPRK” stands for the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” — the country’s official name.

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Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea described the launch as “a powerful warning measure under the grave situation, in which the hostile forces’ anti-DPRK military threat that has persisted for the whole of this year is getting evermore undisguised and dangerous even at this moment of year-end December,” KCNA reported.

Kim was present at the site of the Monday launch, joined by commanding officers of the DPRK Missile Administration, as he was briefed on the drill.

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The projectile, which has the capability of traveling more than 9,300 miles and reaching the mainland U.S., flew 73 minutes before landing in an area west of the Japanese island of Hokkaido, Reuters reported, citing Japan’s Defense Ministry and Parliamentary Vice Minister of Defense Shingo Miyake. 

South Korea’s military said the North Korean missile was launched at an elevated angle in an apparent attempt to avoid neighboring countries. 

The ICBM launch came after North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile into the sea on Sunday, South Korea said, with Pyongyang blaming the U.S. for escalating military tensions on the Korean Peninsula. 

 

South Korea criticized the Sunday launch as a “clear violation” of U.N. Security Council resolutions that have banned the North from using ballistic technologies. 

Fox News’ Greg Norman contributed to this report.