This article details a recent missile test in North Korea and the impacts that test may have on the surrounding region. North Korea has just concluded its most recent failed ICBM (inter continental ballistic missile) test with the missile exploding on the launch pad. Despite this failure however North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has announced that this will be the first in a series of ICBM missile tests designed to give North Korea the capability to hit anywhere on the continental US and carry up to three payloads. This test comes after North Korea launched a pair of satellites in 2020 and 2021, although many experts believe these satellites are incapable of sending data back to North Korea and were instead a means to test their missile capabilities. In order to have a functioning ICBM system North Korea needs satellites that can relay up to date and accurate information on the targets location without this, launching these missiles becomes far more difficult. UN sanctions against the necessary materials to build these satellites have kept North Korea’s ambitions at bay for now. Despite these sanctions Kim Jong Un has vowed to launch functional spy satellites within the year. The article also details the message that North Korea may have gathered from the war between Russia and Ukraine. Experts believe the war will only set North Korea further down the path of military development as the threat of an ICBM may have halted other international actors like the US from getting involved. Ultimately while these tests may have been failures, North Korea’s goal of being a military power grows increasingly more likely as their testing ramps up. As a result of these actions and China and Russia blocking further sanctions from the UN North Korea will likely grow as a military power at the expense of their economy and welfare of the people.
