North Korea tests its most powerful missile yet, firing it into the Sea of Japan
North Korea launched its second intercontinental ballistic missile in less than a month on Friday in a test that indicated remarkable technological progress in the isolated nation’s weapons development, Pentagon officials said.
Although the Pentagon had yet to make final assessments, independent defense analysts said the two-stage missile appeared the most powerful that Pyongyang has ever tested.
They estimated that it flew about 45 minutes and soared about 1,850 miles into space before it crashed down in the Sea of Japan off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan’s northern island.
If that trajectory were flattened out, the analysts said, in theory the missile has the capability for the first time to threaten California and beyond.
President Trump, who has repeatedly warned of the threat from North Korea and made it a foreign policy priority, issued a statement late Friday expressing, as in the past, objection to the “reckless and dangerous action.”
”The United States will take all necessary steps to ensure the security of the American homeland and protect our allies in the regions, ” he said.
The missile test — issued from a mobile launcher shortly before midnight, and from a rural site not previously used near the Chinese border — appeared designed to show it would be difficult to shoot down.
“A night launch from an unexpected location” was intended to “show us that we don’ t have a credible pre-emption option, ” said Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear weapons analyst with the nonpartisan James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey.
It was North Korea’s 18th missile test this year, placing the nation on a record-setting pace.
Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that “Kim Jong Un and his forces are very good at camouflage concealment and deception. »
He added that Pyongyang has yet to fine-tune its missile guidance and control systems and hasn’ t shown the « capacity to strike the United States with any degree of accuracy or reasonable confidence of success.
