Addis Ababa, March 29, 2022(2022) – The test launch of a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasongpho-17 of the DPRK strategic forces was conducted on March 24, 2022, under the direct guidance of Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and supreme commander of the armed forces of the DPRK.
The President visited the launching ground on Thursday and personally guided the overall process of the test-launch of the new type ICBM Hwasongpho-17.
The Hwasong-17 flew for 67.5 minutes to a range of 1,090 km (681 miles) and a maximum altitude of 6,248.5 km (3,905 miles) and precisely hit a target in the sea, state news agency KCNA reported. Those numbers are similar to data reported by Japan and South Korea and are further and longer than North Korea’s last ICBM test in 2017 when it launched a Hwasong-15 missile that flew for 53 minutes to an altitude of about 4,475 km and range of 950 km.
Unlike any of North Korea’s previous ICBM tests, the Hwasong-17 was launched directly from a transporter, erector, launcher (TEL) vehicle, photos by state media showed. The Hwasong-17, which has been shown on a TEL with 11 axles, is the largest road-mobile, liquid-fuelled ICBM in the world, analysts said.