As the latest edition of North Korea’s submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) slowly paraded past the iconic Kim Il Sung Square in central Pyongyang on Jan. 14, state TV announcers proudly labeled it the “world’s most powerful weapon.”
Of course, according to experts, the missile is too large to fit in any submarine North Korea currently has, so it’s not quite the most powerful weapon yet. But nor is it a dud: With the latest generation of SLBMs, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is inching closer to something genuinely powerful—a solid-fuel missile capable of reaching most of the mainland United States and with a shorter launch time than the current bevy of liquid-fuel rockets.
