North Korea test launches missile with range to strike U.S.
North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday, its second missile test in two days, CNN reports.
The missile was launched around 10:15 a.m. local time and likely landed in Japan's "exclusive economic zone," roughly 130 miles west of Oshima Oshima, a Japanese island.
"North Korea is continuing to carry out provocative actions at frequency never seen before," Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday. "I want to restate that we cannot accept such actions." The ICBM did not fly over Japan, and was reportedly North Korea's second-most powerful to date.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
If launched at a normal angle (Friday's test was deliberately steep), flight data indicated the ICBM could theoretically reach anywhere in the U.S., The New York Times reports.
"The ICBM-class ballistic missile launched this time could have a range of over 15,000 kilometers when calculated based on the flight distance of this ICBM," Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said in a statement. "It depends on the weight of the warhead, but in that case, the U.S. mainland would be included in the range."
Still, "North Korea has never demonstrated that its ICBM warhead can survive the heat and friction when it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere after soaring into space," the Times writes, per missile experts.
In response to the launch, President Yoon Suk-yeol said South Korea will work to strengthen ties with the U.S., as well as its overall "defense posture," CNN summarizes.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
"The government will not tolerate North Korea's provocations," Yoon's office said.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is in Thailand for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, also condemned the launched, per CNN.
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Metaverse: Zuckerberg quits his virtual obsessionFeature The tech mogul’s vision for virtual worlds inhabited by millions of users was clearly a flop
-
Frank Gehry: the architect who made buildings flow like waterFeature The revered building master died at the age of 96
-
Is MAGA melting down?Today's Big Question Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Laura Loomer and more are feuding
-
Kushner drops Trump hotel project in SerbiaSpeed Read Affinity Partners pulled out of a deal to finance a Trump-branded development in Belgrade
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
Judge orders release of Ghislaine Maxwell recordsSpeed Read The grand jury records from the 2019 prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public
