Pyongyang condemned the successful US ballistic missile interceptor test from earlier this week as a “risky move” which “will only bring earlier the day when the US mainland will turn into ashes.”
A spokesman for the Strategic Force of the Korean People’s Army told KCNA state news agency that the US ballistic missile interceptor test conducted on Tuesday “is just a serious military provocation that brings to light the US imperialists’ wild ambition for igniting a nuclear war.”
He called the interceptor test a “risky act” that indicates US “preparations for unleashing a nuclear war against” North Korea. Such “foolhardy moves” of the US military only prove that North Korea’s “bolstering the nuclear force for self-defense is entirely just, ” according to the spokesman.
The US military, however, did not call the target of the test an “an ICBM from North Korea” or even imply it. An unnamed Pentagon official told Stars and Stripes that the test was planned “years in advance” and was not a direct response to recent North Korean ballistic missile tests.
The test was hailed by the Pentagon as an “incredible accomplishment” representing a “critical milestone” for the anti-missile program.
“This test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat, ” US Missile Defense Agency chief Vice Admiral James D.
