North Korea unveiled its latest Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) under development during a major military parade in an apparent attempt to show off its capabilities to launch a multiple warhead-tipped ICBM capable of striking the U.S. mainland.
The Hwasong-20 was among an array of weapons systems the reclusive regime showcased in a military parade held Friday night to mark the 80th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), attended by leader Kim Jong-un and high-ranking leaders from China, Russia, Vietnam and other countries.
Analysts had projected the North to disclose the next-generation ICBM under development during the military parade or test-launch it around the anniversary, which took place just a month after Kim stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in a Beijing military parade in a show of their unity against the U.S.
Photos released by the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Saturday showed the Hwasong-20 rolling through Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on an 11-axle transporter erector launcher (TEL), also used by the previous Hwasong-19 ICBM the North first fired in October last year.
“The spectators broke into the most enthusiastic cheers when the column of Hwasongpho-20 ICBMs, the most powerful nuclear strategic weapon system of the DPRK, entered the square, filling the track,” the KCNA said, referring to North Korea by the acronym of its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
North Korea’s first disclosure of the Hwasong-20 comes after the North recently released updates on the development of the next-generation ICBM through state media reports last month.
On Sept. 1, Kim inspected the production of a new high-powered solid-fuel engine for the Hwasong-20 ICBM, the KCNA said, in what marked the North’s first acknowledgement of the latest missile under development in the country’s ICBM arsenal after the Hwasong-19.
North Korea said the new solid-fuel engine has a maximum thrust of 1,960 kilonewtons and will be used for the Hwasong-19 ICBM line and the new Hwasong-20 ICBM.
The report had raised views that the North aims to heighten the engine thrust to fire missiles with a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV), given that it is presumed to already possess missile capabilities to strike anywhere on the continental U.S. with ICBMs that have a range of over 15,000 kilometers.
Multiple warheads are more difficult to intercept compared with single-warhead ones.
Also in September, the KCNA reported that Kim oversaw a high-thrust solid-fuel missile engine test using composite carbon fiber material, saying it heralds “a significant change” in strengthening the country’s nuclear strategic forces.
Among the weapons the North showcased during the military parade were key missile systems, such as hypersonic missiles, which are difficult to track and intercept, as well as medium- and long-range strategic missiles.
“The strategic weapon systems, entities of absolute strength… for self-defence steadily bolstered up by the WPK to defend the right to existence and development which the DPRK must make no compromise over and peace, entered the square,” the KCNA said.
Also notable was the display of weapons likely aimed at increasing battlefield capability, such as the new Chonma-20 main battle tank and drone launch vehicles for firing multiple attack drones that resemble the Russian Lancet loitering munition.
Kim has said Pyongyang will seek to simultaneously pursue nuclear forces while developing conventional weapons to build a powerful military, vowing to unveil a policy that encompasses such goals at the North’s upcoming party congress.
The North’s leader has increasingly underscored the need to modernize conventional weapons and strengthen field training since Pyongyang has sent around 16,000 troops to support Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Analysts said the North seems to have targeted both its domestic audience, as well as foreign counterparts, through the large-scale military parade featuring a cornucopia of weapons systems, ranging from strategic ones to conventional ones that have been modernized.
“North Korea appears to have aimed to shore up internal unity and loyalty while externally flaunting its self-reliant defense capabilities … as it seeks to strengthen its diplomatic and strategic footing on the back of military confidence amid international isolation,” Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said.
