North Korea Tests New ICBMs in ‘Serious Escalation’: US Officials

News of a North Korean missile test seen on TV at a railway station in Seoul on Jan. 17, 2022. (Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images)

North Korea’s communist regime tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system during two tests it conducted in February and early March, confirmed the Pentagon on Thursday.

Pyongyang carried out two ballistic missile tests on Feb. 26 and March 4, which U.S. officials said “involved a new Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) system” that North Korea has been developing, said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby in a statement.

Officials believe that the system was originally unveiled during a parade in Pyongyang on Oct. 10, 2020.

“The purpose of these tests, which did not demonstrate ICBM range, was likely to evaluate this new system before conducting a test at full range in the future, potentially disguised as a space launch,” the statement added.

North Korea, via state-run media, has previously said that the two launches were attempts to test cameras that will be installed on a future surveillance satellite.

Several U.N. Security Council resolutions prevent North Korea from having ICBMs, which are missiles with a range of thousands of miles and can potentially carry a nuclear warhead.

With the alleged ICBM system tests, Kirby said that the “United States strongly condemns these launches, which are a brazen violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, needlessly raise tensions and risk destabilizing the security situation in the region.”

During a conference call with reporters, a U.S. official said Thursday that the new tests represent a “sharp escalation” for Pyongyang’s regime. New sanctions against North Korea will be announced Friday, added the official, who requested anonymity.

Kirby did not estimate the maximum range of the alleged ICBMs that were tested this year.

“Unlike [North Korea’s] three ICBM tests in 2017, neither of these launches demonstrated ICBM range or capability. These launches are likely intended to test elements of this new systems before [North Korea] conducts a launch in full range, which they will potentially attempt to disguise as a space launch,” said the official on the call.

The U.S. decision to publicly share intelligence about North Korea’s launches and a potential future launch is reminiscent of U.S. efforts to publicly claim that Russia would prepare to invade Ukraine in the weeks before the actual Russian invasion on Feb. 24.

In a worldwide threats assessment earlier this week, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (pdf) said North Korea’s recent missile launches over the past several months could mean it is looking to test nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “probably does not view the current level of pressure on his regime, the economic hardships resulting from sanctions, and his domestic COVID-19 countermeasures as enough to require a fundamental change in approach,” the report said.