Implications of North Korea’s ICBM test

Andrew O’Neil, Professor of Political Science with Griffith Business School
North Korea’s announcement that it has successfully tested a ballistic missile with an intercontinental range has been highly anticipated for some time. Despite a string of recent highly publicised failures, the country’s missile testing program has been coming along in leaps and bounds over the past three decades.
Professor Andrew O’Neil
Yesterday’s flight-test of the Hwasong-14 was intended to send a strong signal to the US – it occurred on 4 July – that the Kim Jong-un regime now possesses the option of striking the continental United States with a nuclear warhead if it chooses to do so.
But we should probably be a little cautious in concluding Pyongyang’s claim is necessarily credible. Its announcement of the test noted the missile flew just 933km; the accepted minimum range of an ICBM is 5,500km, and Los Angeles is just under 10,000km. That said, the

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