What Made North Korea Test Giant New Intercontinental Ballistic Missile?
People watch a TV showing a file image of a North Korean missile launch, on March 24.
Photographer: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
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Seoul, South Korea (AP) -- In firing an almost cartoonishly massive intercontinental ballistic missile into space, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has turned back the clock to the “fire and fury” days of 2017 as he revives nuclear brinkmanship aimed at pressuring the United States to accept his country as a nuclear power and remove crippling sanctions.
Thursday’s launch of the Hwasong-17 was North Korea’s most provocative weapons test since U.S. President Joe Biden took office and underscores Kim's determination to continue building his military while diplomacy remains frozen.