Top US official: North Korea has ‘more in store’ after intercontinental ballistic missile test

A top US official said has said that North Korea likely has “more in store” after successfully test-firing its largest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile.

“We see this as part of a pattern of testing and provocation from North Korea ... we think there is likely more in store,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters traveling onboard Air Force One with President Joe Biden on Friday.

His remarks came a day after North Korea conducted its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test in more than four years.

Thursday’s missile launch marked Pyongyang’s 12th missile test this year, and its first ICBM launch since late 2017 when it began a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile testing.

Sullivan noted the US had warned of a North Korean ICBM test by taking an “unusual step” of declassifying its intelligence.

The US earlier said North Korea’s two missile launches staged on February 27 and March 5 had involved a new ICBM system.

“In that statement, we warned that there would be more ICBM tests and that’s what happened here,” the White House official said.

The test is a clear sign North Korea has made “important qualitative progress” on its banned weapons programs, said US-based analyst Ankit Panda.

 "What's important about this ICBM is not how far it can go, but what it can potentially carry, which is multiple warheads," something North Korea has long coveted, he told AFP. 

"The North Koreans are on the cusp of significantly increasing the threat to the United States beyond the ICBM capability demonstrated in 2017."

Multiple warheads would help a North Korean missile evade US missile defense systems.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Thursday it detected the launch of an “unidentified projectile” from North Korea. Japan’s government also reported the launch and said it could be a ballistic missile.

The launch came after North Korea on March 16 fired a suspected missile that apparently exploded shortly after liftoff in the skies over Pyongyang, amid reports that the nuclear-armed state was preparing to test-fire its largest missile yet.

The United States and South Korea have warned in recent weeks that North Korea may be preparing to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at full range for the first time since 2017.

Last year, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un announced a new five-year plan for developing weapons and issued an ambitious program that included hyper-sonic weapons, spy satellites, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, and submarine-launched nuclear missiles.

Long-range and nuclear tests were paused when Kim and then US president Donald Trump engaged in a bout of diplomacy which collapsed in 2019. Talks have since stalled.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk