A North Korean official said Sunday that Pyongyang could launch an ICBM “anytime” and reserves the right to conduct a test wherever it sees fit.
(FOX)- North Korea’s state news agency quoted an anonymous foreign ministry spokesman in a report, adding that the timetable would be determined by the “supreme headquarters of the DPRK.” DPRK stands for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
U.S. officials countered the official’s bluster saying that if Pyongyang launched anything that threatens the territory of the U.S. or its allies, it will be shot down.
The possibility of a successful ICBM launch has been in the back of the minds of the U.S. The launch would be seen as a serious concern to Washington and its allies. Kim Jong Un announced in his annual New Year’s address that the country had reached the “final stages” of ICBM development.
President-elect Trump himself responded with a tweet two days later, saying the possibility of the North developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching the U.S. “won’t happen!”