U.S. issues warning over North Korean missile tests

North Korea said its latest launches on Feb. 26 and March 4 helped to test cameras for a future spy satellite. But the Pentagon on Thursday said the North Koreans were test-firing parts of a powerful new long-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Such missiles, typically designed to carry nuclear warheads, are capable of traveling thousands of miles. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the test was likely intended to evaluate the new system before conducting a full-range launch in the future.

What else do we know about the missile? North Korea first revealed the missile during the 75th birthday of the country’s communist party in 2020, and it surfaced again a year later at a defense exhibition. The missile is suspected to be the largest of any of the country’s known ICBMs. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s regime regularly conducts missile tests as a way to pressure the United States and its allies, and it has carried out nine rounds of weapons tests this year alone. Kim ordered his officials to expand a satellite launch facility to fire a variety of rockets, state media said Friday. U.S. President Joe Biden has repeatedly expressed his willingness to meet with Kim, as long as he is open to denuclearization talks.

Dig deeper: Listen to Joshua Schumacher’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about Japan’s response to threats from China and North Korea.