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North Korea: We Can Now Strike Entire U.S. Mainland

UH OH

Kim Jong Un says the country’s “nuclear force” is now perfected after testing a new missile.

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KCNA KCNA/Reuters

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared Wednesday that the country’s nuclear program is now complete following the “successful” launch of a new missile that threatens all of the U.S. An announcement read out on the state-run Korean Central News Agency said Kim gave the order to test the new Hwasong-15 missile on Tuesday, a launch that was confirmed by South Korean and U.S. authorities. “After watching the successful launch of the new type ICBM Hwasong-15, Kim Jong Un declared with pride that now we have finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force, the cause of building a rocket power,” the announcement said. The statement described the new missile as “significantly more” powerful than previous long-range missiles used and said all of the U.S. mainland would now be within range of a nuclear strike. The launch, the first since Sept. 15, prompted U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis to warn earlier that Pyongyang can now hit “everywhere in the world.”

Read it at AP