By Takuya Karube, KYODO NEWS - Sep 16, 2017 - 10:22 | World, All

North Korea's final goal is achieving an "equilibrium" of military force with the United States and efforts to complete the development of nuclear arms have entered the final phase, leader Kim Jong Un was quoted by his country's official media as saying Saturday, a day after its latest ballistic missile test.

(Korea Media)

(Korea Media)

The test of the intermediate-range Hwasong-12, aimed at "calming down the belligerence of the United States," was "successful" in accurately hitting the preset target waters in the Pacific Ocean, the Korean Central News Agency said.

Kim was quoted as saying that "our final goal is to establish the equilibrium of real force with the United States and make the U.S. rulers dare not talk about military options" for North Korea.

"We should clearly show the big power chauvinists how our state attains the goal of completing its nuclear force despite their limitless sanctions," Kim said, stressing the need to "put an end to them with the all-state efforts as it has nearly reached the terminal," according to KCNA.

The missile test-fired on Friday crossed over Japan into the northern Pacific Ocean and traveled about 3,700 kilometers, a distance capable of putting the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam within range.

It flew a farther distance than any other missile North Korea has fired, and was the country's second missile in less than a month to fly over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido from Sunan, just north of Pyongyang.

The launch came less than a week after the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution toughening sanctions on North Korea following its sixth nuclear test on Sept. 3.

The 15-member Security Council held a closed-door emergency meeting on Friday and in a statement "condemned" North Korea's launch of another ballistic missile, already the 14th this year, as a "highly provocative" act.

With the missile test, however, Kim said the work for boosting the combat power of the newly developed intermediate-range missile has been realized and that he is happy it has verified the Hwasong-12's reliability.

Kim signaled that more missile tests would be held down the road. Guiding by himself what North Korea called the "drill," he told scientists and technicians to put missiles on an "ultra modern basis and develop the operation level onto a higher stage."

He also said warheads should be strictly handled "for their deployment for actual war."

Those remarks were made at a time when Japanese, South Korean and U.S. officials continue to be on high alert to all kinds of provocations from North Korea, including its third intercontinental ballistic missile test that could likely fly over Japan.

North Korea has often carried out major weapons tests around key political events or important dates on its calendar. World leaders are gathering next week in New York for an annual U.N. General Assembly meeting and the 72nd anniversary on Oct. 10 of the foundation of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party is approaching.

Its sixth nuclear test came about a week before the 69th anniversary of the country's foundation day on Sept. 9.

Photos printed in North Korea's leading newspaper Rodong Sinmun on Saturday showed the intermediate-range missile blasting off this time directly from a transporter erector launcher, in an apparent bid to enhance its mobility.

The Aug. 29 launch of the Hwasong-12 took a similar flight course from the district of Sunan, home to North Korea's international airport. But that kind of vehicle was then only used to transport the missile and stand it upright.

In the previous test, the missile was fired from the ground, according to photos released by North Korea's state media.

North Korea has made rapid progress this year on upgrading technologies necessary in its quest to develop a nuclear-tipped long-range missile capable of reaching the mainland United States.

On July 4, on the U.S. Independence Day holiday, North Korea test-fired an ICBM for the first time.

The second test in late July of the long-range missile, which traveled nearly 1,000 km after reaching an altitude of about 3,700 km, was an eye-opener for defense officials and arms experts.

If the ICMB was not tested on a highly lofted trajectory, some experts said it would have a range of about 10,000 km and could have reached major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and Denver.

The sixth nuclear test, which North Korea claimed was of an ICBM mountable hydrogen bomb, was its most powerful to date.

Japan has estimated the explosive device detonated by North Korea had a yield of about 160 kilotons, 10 times the force of the world's first atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima in 1945.

North Korea's fast-paced development of weapons and flurry of tests, as well as its bellicose rhetoric, are seen by some experts as ultimately aimed at drawing the United States to the negotiating table.

North Korea has suggested it will continue arms development as long as Washington provides no security assurances to Pyongyang.

(Korea Media)