North Korea unveils new ICBM able to ‘reach all of the US mainland’

Ryan Pickrell, DCNF

This image made from video of a news bulletin aired by North Korea's KRT on Tuesday, July 4, 2017, shows what was said to be the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, in North Korea's northwest. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this photo. North Korea claimed to have tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile in a launch Tuesday, a potential game-changing development in its push to militarily challenge Washington — but a declaration that conflicts with earlier South Korean and U.S. assessments that it had an intermediate range. (KRT via AP Video) — (KRT via AP Video)

North Korea claims it tested a previously unseen intercontinental ballistic missile Wednesday.

North Korea tested the Hwasong-15 ICBM before dawn, North Korean state media revealed in a special noon announcement. The new missile is believed to have a range of more than 8,100 miles, far greater than that of the Hwasong-14 ICBM the North tested twice successfully in July. The new missile could theoretically strike anywhere in the continental U.S., whereas its predecessor could only strike parts of the U.S. mainland.

Some observers suspected that the North merely tested a Hwasong-14 with a lighter warhead, but North Korean state media dispelled assertions of this nature, claiming that the rocket was tipped with a “super large and heavy warhead.” If the rogue regime is to be believed, it does appear to have tested a new ICBM, one with the ability to strike targets as far away as Trump Tower in New York, Washington, D.C., and even the so-called Winter White House in Mar-a-Lago.

The new numerical designation suggests that the North has made significant hardware changes, such as improved engine technology or additional stages.

Kim Jong Un, who personally ordered Wednesday’s test, “declared with pride” that North Korea has “finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force.” After pursuing advanced ballistic missile capabilities and nuclear weapons for decades, North Korea seems to have developed a missile that can deliver a nuclear payload to targets across the U.S. The North already demonstrated that it possesses a staged thermonuclear warhead — a hydrogen bomb — to go on the business end of such a missile, but for a reliable nuclear deterrent, additional testing will be required.

Follow Ryan on Twitter

Send tips to ryan@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!