North Korea’s New Ballistic Missile Could Reach the US

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North Korea has conducted another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch, and it allegedly has the range to reach the US.

South Korea’s military has reportedly detected the launch of a long-range ballistic missile from the Pyongyang area. According to South Korea, the missile flew 1,000 kilometers before crashing into the Sea of Japan, whose defense ministry confirmed that the missile was an ICBM with a potential range to cover all of the United States. Japan’s Ministry of Defense has reported the missile flight lasted roughly 73 minutes, almost as long as the ICBM North Korea fired in July, which lasted for 74 minutes. The missile reached a maximum altitude of more than 6,000 km before falling into the sea.

According to Interesting Engineering, South Korea’s National Security Council has labeled the missile launched as a destabilizing act that ignored international warnings and multiple UN Security Council resolutions. The Japanese government has reportedly called a meeting of its national security council and protested the launch.

The UNSC has previously adopted many resolutions calling on North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programs since it first conducted a nuclear test in 2006. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida described Monday’s launch as a “threat to peace and stability” and said it violated UNSC resolutions.

South Korea, the US, and Japan strongly condemned the launch, calling it an attempt by the North to improve its missile technology as well as establish a space-based surveillance system. South Korea reportedly plans to restart frontline aerial surveillance, and in response North Korea restored border guard posts- both of these steps break a 2018 deal on easing military tensions.

This information was provided by Interesting Engineering.