North Korea's Kim vows 'stronger military offensives' against U.S. after ICBM launch

SEOUL, July 13 (UPI) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called the latest launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile an "important stride" in the regime's nuclear weapons program and vowed to conduct a series of "stronger military offensives" against the United States, state media reported on Thursday.

Kim made the remarks Wednesday while overseeing the test-firing of a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel ICBM, Korean Central News Agency reported.

"The firm nuclear war deterrence for self-defense and the overwhelming offensive power serves as another important stride in developing the strategic force of the DPRK," Kim said, according to KCNA.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.

Pyongyang has frequently condemned enhanced military cooperation between the United States and South Korea as preparation for an invasion, and Kim said North Korea would continue to bolster its nuclear capabilities in response.

"Given the hostile forces' ever-escalating military threat and challenges, [Kim] reaffirmed that a series of stronger military offensives will be launched," KCNA said.

The ICBM flew for 74 minutes, the KCNA report said, traveling a distance of 622 miles and reaching a maximum altitude of 4,131 miles before splashing down in open waters between Korea and Japan.

The flight time of 74 minutes is the longest ever recorded for a North Korean missile.

Wednesday's test marked the second launch of the Hwasong-18, a new solid-fuel ICBM that analysts say is more maneuverable and quicker to launch than liquid-fuel missiles. It was first tested in April and is believed capable of reaching the entire continental United States, although defense officials in Seoul have questioned whether the North's ICBMs are capable of successfully re-entering the atmosphere to deliver a nuclear payload.

South Korea, Japan and the United States all condemned the launch and the United Nations Security Council scheduled a public meeting Thursday to discuss the North's latest provocation.

"This action demonstrates that the DPRK continues to prioritize its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs over the well-being of its people," U.S. National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said in a statement.

Hodge said the United States will take "all necessary measures" to ensure the security of the U.S. homeland and allies South Korea and Japan.

North Korea has issued a series of warnings to the United States this week over alleged spy plane flights above the waters of its exclusive economic zone.

Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader, claimed that the North's warplanes chased off a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft on Monday and said a "shocking incident would occur" if the flights continued.

The KCNA report on Thursday also slammed the upcoming meeting of a new U.S.-South Korea bilateral nuclear consultative group, scheduled for next week in Seoul, and the planned deployment of a U.S. nuclear ballistic missile submarine to the peninsula.

The allies' "frantic confrontational attempts ... will bring a new chain of nuclear crises to the Korean Peninsula," the report said.