This week saw a dramatic escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. As North Korea promised to engulf the U. S. territory of Guam in " enveloping
This week saw a dramatic escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. As North Korea promised to engulf the U. S. territory of Guam in «enveloping fire», President Trump tweeted that the U. S. military is «locked and loaded» should North Korea «act unwisely».
The North’s missile and nuclear programs have been shrouded in secrecy for years, but recent tests have shed more light on their capabilities. Here is what’s currently known.
North Korean missiles can reach the continental United States.
Any ambiguity about the range of the North’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles was cleared up in July, with two tests of the nation’s new Hwasong-14 ICBM. The missiles flew on a trajectory high into space before returning to Earth. Based on the flight time and altitude, it’s clear that this missile could reach points along the U. S. West Coast and possibly even farther into the country.
It has a lot of other missiles too.
Over the past two years, the North has conducted dozens of missile tests of various designs. Many are shorter range, such as the Hwasong-12 missiles which the North has threatened to fire toward Guam. The North has also been testing advanced solid-fuel missiles and submarine-launched missiles, with a mix of successes and failures.
Most experts agree that North Korea could have a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on a missile.
A report that the North had «miniaturized» its warheads caused a public furor, but many experts already believed the North has a compact weapons design.
In 2016, the North Koreans released pictures of leader Kim Jong Un standing before a miniaturized nuclear device. Dubbed the «disco-ball of death» by some analysts, the device was probably just a mock-up. But it nonetheless showed the North had general knowledge of how to build a small nuclear weapon.
