Two of North Korea's recent missile launches were test firings of a powerful new long-range intercontinental ballistic missile – and the regime has warned that a full-range test could soon follow. According to US intelligence, the tests were of a missile allegedly larger than a similar weapon North Korea launched in 2017, thought to be capable of reaching the United States.
American missile defence and reconnaissance forces in the Pacific have been placed in a state of “enhanced readiness” in preparation for a full-range test, a senior official of the Biden administration said. The official outlined America's assessment of the recent launches on condition they were not named as the source.
Later, John Kirby, the Pentagon's press secretary, said: “The purpose of these tests, which did not demonstrate ICBM range, was likely to evaluate this new system before conducting a test at full range in the future, potentially disguised as a space launch.” North Korea claimed that the March 4 and February 26 launches were merely to test cameras to be installed on a future spy satellite.
