Is North Korea Setting Conditions to Test an ICBM In 2017?
It looks like Kim Jong-un is setting conditions for a Key Resolve fireworks show:
North Korea is likely to conduct missile provocations in the first half as the country announced that its preparation for test-firing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) has entered the final stage, experts said Sunday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in his New Year’s message claimed the country is in the final stage of preparing to launch an ICBM, heralding the country’s intent to jack up tensions in coming months.
Pyongyang is known to be developing a road-mobile ICBM, known as KN-08, which has a range of more than 13,000 kilometers and may be capable of flying as far as the U.S. mainland. But the North has never conducted an actual test of that missile.
Experts said that North Korea will focus on advancing its nuclear and missile capability in the new year, raising the possibility it would be engage in more powerful provocations around its key anniversaries in the first half. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but for those unfamiliar with Key Resolve it is an annual US-ROK military exercise that happens every March that the North Koreans typically commit some kind of provocation in response to.
