North Korea tests fist intercontinental ballistic missile
North Korea has tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile, which according to state media is powerful enough to reach the US mainland.
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Leader Kim Jong Un called it a “package of gifts” for “American bastards.”
#NorthKorea appeared to use a #Chinese truck originally sold for hauling timber to transport and erect a missile: https://t.co/wxxdpCkUhy pic.twitter.com/QY19w97QGD
— Victims of Communism (@VoCommunism) July 5, 2017
Pyongyang boasted the missile called Hwasong-14 was able to transport a “large-sized heavy nuclear warhead.”
MORE: North Korea says it won’t negotiate unless the U.S. scraps threats as South orders missile firing drill https://t.co/FRxQylxSok pic.twitter.com/ZfX6yNZXNH
— Bloomberg (@business) July 4, 2017
Closest ally China voiced its opposition to the tests.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang reacted to the test:“China urges North Korea not to take actions that will violate U.N. Security Council resolutions. The foreign ministries of China and Russia have issued a joint statement on North Korea’s nuclear issue, in which China and Russia expressed serious concern over the relevant launch activities.”
Donald Trump took to Twitter to take a swipe at the amount of trade between Beijing and Pyongyang.
Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us – but we had to give it a try!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 5, 2017
In response South Korea launched a series of military exercises.
World powers appear in quanadry as to what to do about Kim Jong Un’s inextricable march to his goal of a nuclear arsenal.
Even the most limited military strike on Pyongyang will result in a bloodbath in South Korea as the north has thousands of artillery battalions positioned along its border 56 kilometers from the south.