Amid talk in North Korea that they plan to launch their newly constructed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), officials in Washington are poised to shoot down any projectiles that threaten U.S. territories or allies.
North Korea—officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)—has not explicitly confirmed that they will conduct an ICBM test in the near future. Some speculate that the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, and Washington are testing the political climate prior to President-elect Donald Trump taking office on January 20.
Kim Jong Un revealed in his annual New Year’s address that the nation’s ICBM development had reached its “final stages.” Trump took to Twitter to argue that North Korea creating a nuclear weapon that could reach the U.S. “won’t happen!”
North Korean news agency KCNA reported that a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Pyongyang reserves the right to conduct testing of missiles at their own discretion.
“The ICBM will be launched anytime and anywhere determined by the supreme headquarters of the DPRK,” said the unnamed spokesperson, as quoted by KCNA.
A successful launch of North Korean ICBMs could pose a “serious threat” to the U.S. and its allies, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter told “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Carter said that the U.S. military was prepared to shoot down any North Korean missiles nearing the U.S., its territories, or its allies.
The KCNA report indicated a hope for future changes in policy with the Trump administration.
President Barack Obama’s administration adopted a policy of “strategic patience,” focusing on suspending talks and administering severe sanctions on North Korea until it took steps to terminate their nuclear programs. The KCNA report criticized the continuation of U.S. “anachronistic hostile policies to eradicate [North Korean] sovereignty and right to survival for decades.”
“Anyone who wants to deal with the DPRK would be well advised to secure a new way of thinking after having a clear understanding of it,” the foreign ministry official said, as quoted by KCNA.
