Victoria Siano
News Editor
On Monday, Feb. 13, North Korea announced that it had managed to successfully test a new kind of nuclear-capable missile, called Pukguksong-2, that uses solid-fuel technology.
The test itself had taken place on Sunday, where the tested missile traveled about 310 miles and fell harmlessly into the sea after taking a high-trajectory that had taken it into space. Despite this impressive range, the importance of the launch lies in the fact that now it will be much harder for the South Korea, Japan, and the United States to have any warning of a launch in a real conflict between the countries. Unlike previous rockets, solid-fuel rockets like Pukguksong-2, could provide little advanced warning time, seeing as it can be stored on mobile launchers and can be ready to launch in just a few minutes.
The news was broken to President Trump Saturday evening (Sunday in North Korea) right after officials received news of the testing, and with it came new complications, as the weapon would make it harder to counter the country’s missile and nuclear program, and make it more difficult to threaten to strike North Korean launch sites.
In regards to America’s response to this, it is still unclear what course of action the Trump administration will take, however, the American Ambassador for the United Nations Security Council, Nikki R. Haley, has warned that the Trump administration will see that it will hold Pyongyang accountable “not with [its] words, but with [its] actions.”
