US, North Korea trade warnings over potential ICBM test

TIL Desk/World/Pyongyang-With Donald Trump getting ready to take office as president, North Korea is talking about launching a newly perfected intercontinental ballistic missile. Officials in Washington are saying that if Pyongyang launches anything that threatens the territory of the US or its allies, it will be shot down.

North Korea has not explicitly said it will conduct an ICBM test in the immediate future, and it is safe to assume US policy has always been to shoot down any missiles that threaten its territory. But the recent barb trading could suggest Pyongyang and Washington are feeling each other out ahead of President-elect Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

A successful ICBM launch would be a major step forward for North Korea and a serious concern to Washington and its allies. Kim Jong Un announced in his annual New Year’s address that the country had reached the “final stages” of ICBM development. Trump himself responded with a tweet two days later, saying the possibility of the North developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching the US “won’t happen!”