Episode 53: North Korea launches its furthest, highest and fastest ICBM to date: Why you should care?

Summary:

North Korea successfully launched a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on October 31, 2024. Happy Holloween! This marks a significant advancement in the country's missile program. The missile traveled for 86 minutes, reaching an altitude of over 7,000 kilometers, putting the entire continental United States within its potential range. While experts believe North Korea hasn't yet achieved a fully operational nuclear-armed missile capable of striking the U.S., this test is a crucial step towards that goal and could be timed to influence the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

Questions to consider as you read/listen:

1. What is the significance of North Korea's latest ICBM test?
2. How might this test impact regional and global security?
3. What are the potential implications of this test for the US?

Long format:

North Korea launches its furthest distance ICBM test

North Korea has completed preparations to test an ICBM-class missile, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Wednesday October 30, 2024, citing the South Korean military, with an intended launch possibly timed to coincide with next week's U.S. presidential election.

The launch happened today, October 31, 2024. The reports claim that the missile’s flight duration of 86 minutes and its maximum altitude of more than 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles) and flew over 1000 kilometers exceeding past tests. This was a high angle launch not a standard trajectory launch as such this test cannot examine a missile’s reentry vehicle technology. That is a distance that puts anywhere in the mainland United States within range.

Many foreign experts believe the country has yet to acquire a functioning nuclear-armed missile that can strike the U.S. mainland but this is a step towards that ultimate goal.

Sources:

https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/dprk/2024/dprk-241030-rfa03.htm

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korea-conducts-longest-icbm-test-amid-storm-over-troop-deployment-russia-2024-10-31/

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/31/north-korea-launches-a-new-intercontinental-ballistic-missile-designed-to-threaten-us.html