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DPRK's ultimate objective is to reach military parity with US, says Kim Jong-un

North Korean leader said the engineers and researchers had a task to continue working for a further upgrading of the missile industry

© AP Photo/Wong Maye-E

MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/. North Korean leader personally commanded on September 15 the launch of the Hwasong-12 missile that flew over Hokkaido towards the Pacific and the order on the launch was given instantaneously, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Saturday.

It quoted Kim Jong-un as saying Pyongyang’s ultimate goa was to attain military parity with the U.S.

The report said the missile had flown by the designated orbit and hit the assigned target.

Thus the North Korean forces verified the combat capability of a strategic ballistic missile at a medium and long range.

"Our final objective is to attain the practical parity of forces with the U.S.," KCNA said quoting Kim Jong-un’s remark to the staff-members of the department for defense industries at the Central Committee of the Korean Workers’ Party.

He said the engineers and researchers had a task to continue working for a further upgrading of the missile industry.

On Friday, the DPRK launched a yet another ballistic missile that flew over Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido towards the Pacific Ocean and fell into the water some 2,200 km to the east of Cape Erimo.

U.S. and South Korean military said the launch had taken place at a site near Pyongyang. Experts in Washington believe North Korea tested a medium-range missile.

Pyongyang carried out the launch just four days after the UN Security Council had adopted a resolution on toughening the international sanctions against North Korea.

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