Seoul — North Korea’s successful missile test-launch signals major advances in developing an intercontinental ballistic missile, such as mastery of re-entry technology and better engine performance key to targeting the US, experts say. The isolated country has been developing a long-range missile capable of striking the mainland US mounted with a nuclear warhead. That would require a flight of 8,000km or more and technology to ensure a warhead’s stable re-entry into the atmosphere. The North’s official KNCA news agency said the new strategic ballistic missile named Hwasong-12, fired on Sunday at the highest angle to avoid affecting neighbouring countries’ security, flew 787km on a trajectory reaching an altitude of 2,111.5km. The details reported by KCNA were largely consistent with South Korean and Japanese assessments that it flew further and higher than an intermediate-range missile (IRBM) tested in February from the same region, northwest of Pyongyang.
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