On New Year's Day, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un noted in a televised speech that his country is in the "last stage" of preparations for the test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. A day later, Donald Trump tweeted his reaction.
On New Year's Day, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un noted in a televised speech that his country is in the "last stage" of preparations for the test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
According to CNN, Kim said, "Research and development of the cutting-edge tech weapons are actively progressing and strengthening our defense capabilities, including last stage preparation of tests for intercontinental ballistic rocket launch have been continuously succeeding."
On Monday, Donald Trump tweeted his reaction, "North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen!"
While addressing the issue, Trump also slammed China in another tweet, "China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea. Nice!"
Quartz reports that since assuming power in 2011, Kim has sought to build a long-range nuclear missile that can reach California, which is about 5,600 miles from North Korea.
The Washington Post notes, "While Kim made no mention of Trump in his speech, his comments released Sunday signal that North Korea might seek to test-fire a long-range missile around the time of the U.S. presidential inauguration to raise stakes ahead of potential talks with the Trump administration."
