North Korea Reportedly testing ICBM system

This is significant because it would be the first North Korean test of an ICBM since 2017.

Fmr. State Dept. official Vann Van Diepen, a nonproliferation official, on the U.S. reporting North Korea is testing advanced rocket systems.

• ICBM – Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
• The U.S. announced both on the record (Pentagon briefing) and in a background briefing (in which unnamed officials brief reporters) that North Korea began testing this new ICBM system in late February and early March.
• Why This Matters: ICBMs can travel far distances (intercontinental = between continents) and also carry nuclear warheads. An ICBM launched from North Korea could be capable of hitting the United States.
• “The ICBM for Kim Jong Un has been unfinished business,” said Robert Einhorn, another former State Department official and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington. (Read more from the WSJ below.)

North Korea Tested Components of New ICBM in February, March Launches, U.S. Officials Say