North Korean state officials announced the successful test-firing of “long-range cruise missiles” this weekend. The nation’s state-run media company, Korean Central News Agency, said the missiles flew for over two hours and hit targets 1,500 kilometers away. The missiles have allegedly been in development for two years, and were hailed by the isolated dictatorship as a “strategic weapon of great significance” in Kim Jong Un’s push to bolster the country’s nuclear arsenal. In 2019, Kim’s government demanded during a summit that the Americans lift a number of major sanctions in exchange for the partial surrender of the North’s nuclear force—when former President Donald Trump’s team demurred, talks fell apart. Negotiations with the Biden administration are as of yet similarly dead in the water. The Pentagon said of the reported missile launches: “This activity highlights DPRK’s continuing focus on developing its military program and the threats that poses to its neighbors and the international community.”
