WHEN North Korea claimed it was in the final stages of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at the beginning of the year, Donald Trump scoffed: “It won’t happen.” So it was perhaps not a coincidence that North Korea chose America’s independence day to test a device that it claimed was indeed an ICBM. In fact, even if the claim is technically correct, the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, will probably have to wait a few more years before he can brandish a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to Los Angeles or New York. But for America’s top brass, the speed at which North Korea’s missile programme is advancing will cast a pall over the fireworks on the Fourth of July.
The missile appears to have flown for 37 minutes before splashing down some 930km from its launch. According to David Wright of the Union of Concerned Scientists, it had a lofted (heightened) trajectory, reaching an altitude of 2,800km. On a more conventional trajectory,...Continue reading
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