ASSESSMENTS

North Korea Successfully Tests Its First ICBM

Jul 4, 2017 | 10:04 GMT

People watch a television broadcast reporting the North Korean missile launch from the Seoul Railway Station in South Korea, on July 4.

People watch a television broadcast reporting the North Korean missile launch from the Seoul Railway Station in South Korea, on July 4. The latest launch drew strong criticism from the U.S. and came ahead of a summit of leaders from the G20 countries in Germany later this week.

(CHUNG SUNG-JUN/Getty Images)

At 9:10 a.m. local time on July 4, North Korea launched a new ballistic missile, the Hwasong-14, from the Panghyon Airport in North Pyongan Province. The Hwasong-14 was tested at a lofted, or steep, trajectory. This flight path maximizes the altitude of the missile and reduces its distance traveled in order to avoid overflying neighboring regions and countries such as Japan. Pyongyang further claimed that the Hwasong-14 missile was an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile -- a statement that is thus far backed up by the available flight data....

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