U.S. on alert for N. Korea missiles

Long-range test possible, Pacific forces ready, official says

WASHINGTON — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his officials to expand a satellite launch facility to fire a variety of rockets, state media reported Friday, as the U.S. and South Korean militaries concluded the North is testing a new intercontinental ballistic missile system.

The Biden administration says two North Korean missile launches in recent weeks were test firings of a powerful new long-range ICBM and warned Thursday that a full-range test could soon follow.

American missile defense and reconnaissance forces in the Pacific have been placed in a state of “enhanced readiness” in preparation for a full-range test, a senior administration official said Thursday.

“The purpose of these tests, which did not demonstrate ICBM range, was likely to evaluate this new system before conducting a test at full range in the future, potentially disguised as a space launch,” said Pentagon press secretary John Kirby in a statement Thursday.

North Korea has claimed the March 4 and Feb. 26 launches were to test cameras to be installed on a future spy satellite.

Multiple UN Security Council resolutions prohibit North Korea from firing ICBMs, and the U.S. planned to announce a new round of sanctions today meant to make it more difficult for the country to access technology needed for its weapons programs, the official said.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said North Korea must stop any act that raises tensions and causes security concerns in the region immediately.

A ministry statement said Seoul and Washington decided to release the information because they believe the international community must speak in one voice to oppose the North’s development of a further missile capability.

On Friday, the North’s Korean Central News Agency reported Kim inspected the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground and ordered officials to “modernize it on an expansion basis so that various rockets could be launched to carry multi-purpose satellites.”

Last week’s launch was North Korea’s ninth round of weapons tests already this year as it uses a break in diplomacy to expand its military capabilities.

Since taking office last year, The Biden administration has reached out multiple times to North Korea in an effort to bring it back tothe negotiating table after three rounds of Trump meetings with leader Kim Jong Un aimed at denuclearizing the Korean peninsula brought no appreciable change in the North Korean posture.

The official said Thursday that North Korea still has not responded to any U.S. request.

Kim said earlier this week that North Korea needs reconnaissance satellites to monitor “the aggression troops of the U.S. imperialism and its vassal forces.”

The U.S. official said the American intelligence assessment was generated and shared in consultation with allies in the region, including South Korea and Japan.

“Our commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remains ironclad,” said Kirby.