North Korea Says Missile It Tested Can Carry Nuclear Warhead
By CHOE SANG-HUNMAY 14, 2017
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said on Monday that the missile it launched a day earlier was a new ballistic missile
that can carry a large, heavy nuclear warhead, warning that the United States’ military bases in the Pacific were within its range.
If the United States provokes North Korea, Mr. Kim said, it will not escape "the biggest disaster in history" because "its mainland
and Pacific operation region are in the D.P.R.K.’s sighting range for strike," according to the news agency.
The missile, believed to have a longer range than any other North Korean missile tested so far, landed in the sea between the North
and Japan, sparking angry comments from President Trump, as well as from President Moon Jae-in of South Korea and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan.
"If the U.S. dares opt for a military provocation against the D.P.R.K., we are ready to counter it." Although North Korea has vowed to develop the ability to attack the United States with nuclear warheads and has tested missiles
that can reach throughout the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity, it has never tested a long-range missile that could fly across the Pacific.
Missile experts say North Korea may still be years away from mastering the technologies needed to build a reliable intercontinental ballistic missile, although Mr. Kim warned in his New Year’s Day speech
that his country had reached a "final stage" in preparing to conduct its first ICBM test.
ICBM said that may represent a substantial advan
