Kim Jong Un shocks the world, fires biggest North Korean missile in 5 yrs; can hit US bases
North Korea appeared to have fired one of its biggest ballistic missiles in almost five years, adding to its largest series of tests since Kim Jong Un took power as he tries to force his nuclear arsenal back onto the Biden administration’s agenda. North Korea launched a suspected intermediate range missile for the first time since 2017, according to initial assessments from Japan and South Korea. The missile reached an altitude of up to 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) and had a flight distance of about 800 kilometers, the two neighbors said.
The missile flew eastward for about 30 minutes and landed in waters outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said, adding officials are “currently conducting further analysis.” North Korea has already fired off more ballistic missiles this month than it did in all of 2021.
Sunday’s test provides a reminder to the Biden administration that Kim’s nuclear arsenal remains among the U.S.’s biggest foreign policy challenges despite former President Donald Trump’s decision to hold face-to-face summits with the North Korean leader. Although Kim made a vague commitment in 2018 to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” he has continued to advance his nuclear weapons program.
“Kim hasn’t had to pay the price for his actions, and he knows that especially now – with Covid, the Russia-Ukraine situation, brimming U.S.-China tensions, not to mention a South Korean presidential campaign season – the time is ripe for provocations,” said Soo Kim, a policy analyst with the Rand Corp. who previously worked at the Central Intelligence Agency. “Kim’s made it pretty clear that it will take something greater than sanctions to make him
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