'No one can stop us...
we can turn the devil's
den into ashes':
Kim threatens to nuke
the US at any time after
Pentagon successfully
tested system to stop
his ballistic missiles
- North Korea said it could launch intercontinental
- ballistic missiles at any time
- It came after the US said on Tuesday it had
- intercepted a mock-up of an ICMB
- The success of the test is a watershed moment
- for the US military's effort to establish an effective -
- though limited - ground-based defense against ICBMs
- A North Korea paper said 'no one can stop the nuclear
- power state' Wednesday
North Korea, its leader Kim Jong-Un pictured above, warned
on Wednesday it was prepared to launch intercontinental
ballistic missiles (ICBMs) at any time, as the US successfully tested
a system designed to intercept them
North Korea warned on Wednesday that it was prepared to
launch intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) at any time,
as the US successfully tested a system designed to intercept them.
The fresh sabre-rattling from Pyongyang appeared to up the
stakes as the Pentagon announced on Tuesday that it had
intercepted a mock-up of an ICMB in a first-of-its-kind test.
The success of the test is a watershed moment for the US
military's effort to establish an effective - though limited -
ground-based defense against ICBMs as the North ramps
up its threats.
'We're prepared to test-fire ICMBs anywhere and anytime
on orders from the supreme commander (Kim Jong-Un)',
the state-run Rodong Sinmun paper said in the article entitled:
'No one can stop the nuclear power state, rocketry master in
the East'.
The paper added: 'The United States must know our declaration
that we can turn the devil's den into ashes with nuclear weapons
is not an empty threat.'
Concern among the international community over the North's
weapons program was further raised after North Korea test-fired
yet another ballistic missile, the latest in a series of launches
that have ratcheted up tensions over Pyongyang's quest to
develop weapons capable of hitting the United States.
It was the third missile test by the nuclear-armed regime in
less than three weeks, defying UN sanctions warnings and
US threats of possible military action.
Early this month, it test-fired what appeared to be its
longest-range ballistic missile yet tested in a bid to bring the
US mainland within reach.
The North has carried out two atomic tests and dozens of missile
launches since the beginning of last year in its quest to develop
a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the
continental United States - something President Donald
Trump has vowed 'won't happen'.
The fresh sabre-rattling from Pyongyang appeared to up
the stakes as the Pentagon announced on Tuesday that it had
intercepted a mock-up of an ICMB in a first-of-its-kind test.
Pictured above, the rocket designed to intercept an
intercontinental ballistic missiles is launched from Vandenberg
Air Force Base in California on Tuesday
The North has carried out two atomic tests and dozens of
missile launches since the beginning of last year in its quest
to develop a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to
the continental United States - something President Donald
Trump has vowed 'won't happen'
Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said Tuesday's
trial was not timed specifically in response to tensions with
Pyongyang but that 'in a broad sense, North Korea is one of
the reasons why we have this capability'.
'They continue to conduct test launches, as we saw this
weekend, while also using dangerous rhetoric that suggests
they would strike the United States homeland,' Davis said.
The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptor
successfully struck its target over the Pacific Ocean in an
exercise aimed at helping gauge American ability to counter
any potential similar threat from North Korea.
US Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Adm Jim Syring told
NBC News the test was a 'critical milestone'.
'This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland,
and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible
deterrent against a very real threat,' Syring said.
I am incredibly proud of the war-fighters who executed
this test and who operate this system every day,' he added.
Concern among the international community over the North's
weapons program was further raised after North Korea test-fired
yet another ballistic missile, the latest in a series of launches
that have ratcheted up tensions over Pyongyang's quest to
develop weapons capable of hitting the United States
America's last intercept test, in June 2014, was successful,
but the longer track record is spotty.
Since the system was declared ready for potential combat use
in 2004, only four of nine intercept attempts have been successful.
Laura Grego, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists,
which has criticized the missile defense program, calls the
interceptor an 'advanced prototype', meaning it is not fully
matured technologically even if it has been deployed and theoretically
available for combat since 2004.
The interceptors are, in essence, the last line of US
defense against an attack by an intercontinental-range missile.
The Pentagon has other elements of missile defense that have
shown to be more reliable, although they are designed to work
against medium-range or shorter-range ballistic missiles.
These include the Patriot missile, which numerous countries
have purchased from the US, and the Terminal High-Altitude
Area Defense, or THAAD, which the United States
deployed this year to South Korea to defend against
medium-range missiles from North Korea.
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