North Koreans launch missile that could reach U.S. territory

The North Korean regime released photos on Monday of the intermediate-range ballistic missile it launched on Sunday – as well as photos of the Korean Peninsula allegedly taken from the rocket.

Although the test-firing of the Hwasong-12 missile was Pyongyang’s seventh missile launch so far this year, it was the first launch of a rocket capable of carrying a nuclear weapon in five years, the New York Post reported.

Photos released by the state’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) show the missile’s launch from a mobile launching platform and its subsequent ascent through the clouds into space.

According to the KCNA, the launch was intended to test the accuracy of the Hwasong-12 missile, which was reportedly fired from a steep angle in order to keep it from flying over neighboring countries.

Although North Korean officials refused to release any other details, South Korea and Japan both reported that the rocket flew approximately 497 miles and reached an altitude of 1,242 miles before landing in the ocean between the Korean peninsula and Japan – making it the most powerful missile that North Korea has tested since 2017.

The Hwasong-12 rocket is a ground-to-ground, nuclear-capable weapon with a maximum range of ​2,800 miles when fired on a standard trajectory, putting the U.S. territory of Guam well within its range. 

Talks over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program stalled after a 2019 summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un failed to reach a breakthrough. ​