Kim’s missiles can reach Europe, too

– Europe, like the United States, is now in reach of North Korea’s ballistic missiles, French Defence Minister Florence Parly warned yesterday.

The regime’s test of its third intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday is “a demonstration of [Pyongyang’s] rising power”, Parly told BFM television.

“Europe, like the United States, is certainly within reach of these launches,” she said, adding that “few Western cities” would be out of range.

An initial assessment by the Pentagon suggested North Korea’s latest missile flew about 1 000km before crashing into the sea within Japan’s maritime economic exclusion zone.

But flying on a standard path instead of a test trajectory, it would have a range of more than 13 000km, according to David Wright, co-director at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Such a missile would have more than enough range to reach “any part of the continental United States”, Wright said, a claim also made by Kim Jong-un’s regime.

It would, in theory, also put London – 8 700km from Pyongyang – Paris and other European cities within range.

French Foreign Minister JeanYves le Drian had warned in September that North Korea could have the ability to strike Europe “within months”.

Parly urged the international community to “pursue the path of sanctions” against North Korea.

“And what is imperative is that everyone applies these sanctions without fail, including China and Russia,” she said. – AFP