North Korea launches an ICBM days before US election
Summary
- Pyongyang has a tradition of timing provocations to key American events and breaks its record for longest-ever flight time.
SEOUL—Just days before the U.S. presidential election, North Korea launched an apparent intercontinental ballistic missile that stayed airborne longer than anything the Kim Jong Un regime had ever launched before.
Pyongyang has traditionally carried out weapons tests or provocations timed around key American political events or holidays—moves that security experts say seek to grab Washington’s attention.
North Korea has previously demonstrated it has long-range missiles that could reach the U.S. mainland. The presumed ICBM launched on Wednesday flew for more than 85 minutes, according to Japan’s defense ministry. That tops North Korea’s previous record of roughly 74 minutes.
Showcasing a lengthier flight time suggests not only the potential for an ICBM to travel greater distances, but also fly with heavier payloads. One of Kim’s top weapons priorities is possessing a long-range missile powerful enough to carry several nuclear warheads that would dramatically multiply the damage a single weapon could deliver.
The outcome of Tuesday’s U.S. election could reshape Washington’s policy with the Kim regime should former President Donald Trump win. Pyongyang never took up the Biden administration’s repeated offers to meet without preconditions, with top North Korean officials doubting the talks would deliver meaningful results. Vice President Kamala Harris has signaled adopting a similar tact.
Meanwhile, Trump—the only sitting U.S. president to have ever met a North Korean leader—has touted his close relationship with Kim that included frequent letter exchanges. At July’s Republican National Convention, Trump said about his connection with the 40-year-old dictator: “Now North Korea is acting up again, but when we get back, I get along with him," Trump said. “He’d like to see me back, too. I think he misses me."
An ICBM launch could help Trump make the argument that he is the better candidate to tame autocrats such as Kim, pointing out that North Korea refrained from missile tests for a good stretch of his time in the Oval Office, said Lee Sung-yoon, a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
“It would be irresponsible of Kim Jong Un not to resort to a major provocation on the eve of the U.S. election," Lee said. “An ICBM launch, the North’s first in some 10 months, only helps the candidate who once was his pen pal."
The U.S. and North Korea haven’t held formal nuclear talks in more than five years. During that time, Kim has shunned outreach from the Biden administration and drawn ever closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The blossoming Moscow-Pyongyang relationship now entails leader-level summits, arms deliveries and the recent dispatch of roughly 10,000 North Korean troops to Russia.
The risk of Russia helping North Korea’s weapons technology—including ICBMs—came up during a joint press conference in Washington with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun. Austin said he was increasingly concerned that the North Korean soldiers could support Russia’s combat operations. “We’re seeing them outfitted with Russian uniforms and provided with Russian equipment," Austin said.
Before Wednesday, North Korea had last conducted an ICBM test in December 2023. Not long ago, such long-range missile activity—which violates United Nations Security Council resolutions—could have resulted in extra sanctions on the Kim regime. But protection in recent years from both Russia and China, which wield veto power at the U.N., has shielded North Korea.
The latest ICBM was launched at around 7:11 a.m. on Wednesday, traveling about 621 miles and hitting an altitude of more than 4,300 miles, according to Japan’s defense ministry. The missile splashed into waters west of Okushiri Island that is located 12 miles west of Hokkaido, Japan’s northern main island. North Korea flies its ICBMs on lofted trajectories to avoid soaring them over Japan into the Pacific Ocean—a flight path that invites major backlash from Tokyo, Washington and others.
Over the decades, Pyongyang has carried out provocations on the U.S. presidential Election Day in 1980 and 1996. On the Fourth of July during Trump’s first year in office in 2017, North Korea launched an ICBM. That one stayed in flight for about 40 minutes.
Lara Seligman and Chieko Tsuneoka contributed to this article.
Write to Timothy W. Martin at Timothy.Martin@wsj.com
