North Korea’s 2nd missile test puts much of US in range, experts say
Published 7:42 pm, Friday, July 28, 2017
PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Saturday the second flight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile demonstrated his country can hit the U.S. mainland, hours after the launch left analysts concluding that a wide swath of the United States, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver and Chicago, is now in range of North Korean weapons.
The Korean Central News Agency said that Kim expressed “great satisfaction” after the Hwasong-14 missile, which the country first launched on July 4, reached a maximum height of 2,314 miles and traveled 620 miles from the launch point before landing in waters near Japan.
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The agency quoted Kim as saying that the latest launch reaffirmed the reliability of the country’s ICBM system and confirmed an ability to launch the missile at “random regions and locations at random times” with the “entire” U.S. mainland now within range.
Kim said the launch late Friday sent a “serious warning” to the United States, which has been “meaninglessly blowing its trumpet” with threats of war and stronger sanctions, the KCNA said.
The North Korean flight data was similar to assessments by the United States, South Korea and Japan.
David Wright, a physicist and co-director of the global security program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that if reports of the missile’s maximum altitude and flight time are correct, it would have a theoretical range of at least 6,500 miles. That means it could have reached San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver or Chicago, depending on variables such as the size and weight of the warhead that would be carried atop such a missile in an actual attack.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry denouncing the launch as a “grave threat” to regional and international security. But the ministry also said South Korea will continue to try to reach out to the North and called for Pyongyang to accept Seoul’s recent offer for talks to reduce animosities along their tense border and resume temporary reunions of relatives separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
On Saturday, South Korea said it will deploy strategic U.S. military assets to the Korean Peninsula and consider placing additional launchers of an advanced U.S. antimissile system on its soil following North Korea’s test-launch. The latest measures were announced by South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo.
Song told reporters in Seoul he will discuss with U.S. military commanders in South Korea temporarily placing additional THAAD launchers. There are currently two THAAD launchers operational in the South and one THAAD battery consists of six.
Song did not specify what the strategic assets are, but they usually refer to U.S. stealth bombers and aircraft carriers.
Immediately after the launch Friday, U.S. and South Korean forces conducted a live-fire exercise Saturday morning during which they fired missiles off South Korea’s east coast.
Eric Talmadge and Mari Yamaguchi are Associated Press writers.
