North Korea tests missile ‘that can strike anywhere’ when it means Alaska

North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which landed in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone on July 4, that also happens to be the US Independence Day. The North Korean propaganda machinery said the missile “can strike anywhere”, clearly sending a message that it can hit targets in the US.

Being North Korea’s 11^th launch this year, the ICBM, according to analysts, has the range to strike Alaska but not other parts of the continental US, said a Guardian report.

The missile referred to as Hwasong-14 on state TV, which was fired from the North Phyongan province, flew for about 40 minutes and reached an altitude of 2,500 km, covering a distance of 930 km.

The missile was launched soon after Donald Trump met Moon Jae-in, the South Korean president, in Washington and held telephone discussions dominated by Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear weapons programmes with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Being launched on the US Independence day and just before the start of the G20 summit in Hamburg, the launch is raising eyebrows as to whether it was designed as a political warning to Washington and its chief Asian allies, Seoul and Tokyo.

Soon after the missile test, US President Donald Trump tweeted, “Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!”

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sharply criticised North Korea for the launch. “Japan will work to increase international pressure on North Korea by uniting strongly with the US and South Korea. I’m also planning to call on Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin to play a more constructive role,” he said.