North Korea claims it tested first intercontinental missile

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — North Korea on Tuesday claimed it successfully test-launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a potential game-changing development in what may be the world’s most dangerous nuclear standoff and, if true, a direct rebuke to U.S. President Donald Trump’s earlier declaration that such a test “won’t happen!”

The launch appeared to be North Korea’s most successful missile test yet. A U.S. scientist examining the height and distance said the missile could potentially be powerful enough to reach Alaska.

In typically heated rhetoric, North Korea’s Academy of Defence Science said the test of an ICBM — the Hwasong-14 — marked the “final step” in creating a “confident and powerful nuclear state that can strike anywhere on Earth.”

It will be difficult to confirm many details about what happened. North Korea’s weapons program is perhaps the most closely held state secret in one of the world’s most suspicious nations. U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials earlier assessed that the North fired an intermediate-range missile into waters near Japan.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga declined to comment on whether Japan thinks it was an ICBM, and South Korea’s Defence Ministry said it was analyzing whether the North’s statement was accurate.

North Korea has previously launched satellites in what critics said were disguised tests of its long-range missile technology. A test-launch of an ICBM, however, would be a major step in developing nuclear-armed missiles that could reach anywhere in the United States.

The launch sends a political warning to Washington and its chief Asian allies, Seoul and Tokyo, while also allowing North Korean scientists a chance to perfect their stillincomplete nuclear missile program. It came on the eve of the U.S. Independence Day holiday, days after the first face-to-face meeting of the leaders of South Korea and the United States, and ahead of a global summit of the world’s richest economies.

Most outside and North Korean analyses of the missile’s height, distance and time in the air were roughly similar.

U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials say it flew for about 40 minutes and reached an altitude of 2,500 km, which would be longer and higher than any similar North Korean test previously reported. It also covered a distance of about 930 km.

North Korea said the missile flew as high as 2,802 km before hitting a designated target in the ocean about 933 km away from the launch site in the North’s northwest. It said the missile flew for about 39 minutes and was made at the highest possible angle.

Russia’s military, however, said the missile flew considerably shorter and lower than others reported.

Before North Korea’s announcement of an ICBM, South Korean analysts said it was likely that it was are test of one of two intermediaterange missiles launched earlier this year.

One U.S. missile scientist, David Wright, estimated that the highly lofted missile, if the reported time and distance are correct, could have a possible maximum range of 6,700 km, which could put Alaska in its range, if fired at a normal trajectory.

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former commanding officer of the British Armed Forces Joint Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Regiment, said that “in capability of missile terms and delivery, it is a major step up and they seem to be making progress week-on-week.” He added, however, that “actually marrying the warhead to the missile is probably the biggest challenge, which they appear not to have progressed on.”

North Korea has a reliable arsenal of shorter-range missiles and is thought to have a small arsenal of atomic bombs, but is still trying to perfect its longer-range missiles.

Some outside civilian experts believe the North has the technology to mount warheads on shorter-range Rodong and Scud missiles that can strike South Korea and Japan, two key U.S. allies where about 80,000 American troops are stationed. But it’s unclear if it has mastered the technology needed to build an atomic bomb that can fit on a long-range missile.