Hawaii has tested a nuclear attack warning for the first time since the Cold War, after North Korea claimed its missiles could hit anywhere in the US. The UN will hold talks later this month in a bid to lower tensions.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/dpa/C. Jones
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ICBM threat and North Korea's overall military strength
For years, the international community downplayed the threat of North Korea's military power. With the test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, it is clear that Pyongyang's military capabilities are growing.
Image: Gettty Images/AFP/E. Jones
Major achievement
In early June 2017, North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time. Testing an ICBM marked a major military achievement for Pyongyang and a serious escalation of tensions with the United States and its allies in the region, particularly South Korea and Japan.
Image: Reuters/KCNA
Trouble with warheads
At the time, defense experts said the ICBM could reach as far as the US states of Alaska and Hawaii. However, it was unclear if North Korea can field an ICBM capable of carrying a nuclear warhead on its cone that could survive reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. North Korean state media claimed the ICBM was capable of carrying a "large, heavy nuclear warhead" to any part of the United States.
Image: Reuters/KCNA
Pyongyang's nuclear tests - six times and counting
The ICBM is believed to be a step forward in the North's nuclear program. Despite pressure from the international community, Pyongyang has made no secret of its nuclear ambitions. Alongside its ritual ballistic missile tests, North Korea has conducted nuclear tests on at least six occasions, including one in September 2017.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/KCNA
US running out of patience?
Responding to the first ICBM test with a show of force, the US and South Korean troops on conducted "deep strike" precision missile drills using Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and the Republic of Korea's Hyunmoo Missile II. In April, the US sent its Carl Vinson aircraft carrier towards the Korean Peninsula, saying it was taking prudent measures against the North.
Image: picture-alliance/Zumapress/M. Brown
Testing the boundaries
Ignoring international condemnation, Pyongyang test-launched another rocket on July 28, 2017, just weeks after its first ICBM test. In both of the tests, North Korea used Hwasong-14 missile, but the second one reached a higher altitude and traveled a larger distance than the first one, according to the state media.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/KCNA
Whole of US within range?
Pyongyang conducted its third test November 29, using a newly developed Hwasong-15 missile. US, Japanese and South Korean officials said it rose to about 4,500 km (2,800 miles) and flew 960 kilometers (600 miles) over about 50 minutes before landing in Japan's exclusive economic zone off the country's coast.
Image: picture-alliance/MAXPPP
One of the world's largest militaries
Apart from a developing missile and nuclear program, North Korea has a powerful army with 700,000 active troops and another 4.5 million in the reserves. It can call upon almost a quarter of its population to serve in the army at any given time. The North's bloated army is believed to outnumber its southern neighbor's by two-to-one.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Jones
Vast capabilities
According to the 2017 Global Firepower Index, the North has, as part of a far-reaching arsenal, 458 fighter aircraft, 5,025 combat tanks, 76 submarines, and 5,200,000 total military personnel. The picture above from 2013 shows leader Kim Jong Un ordering strategic rocket forces to be on standby to strike US and South Korean targets at any time.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Enemies all around
Alongside the United States, Pyongyang views its neighbors South Korea and Japan as its two other main enemies. North Korea has used US military exercises in the region as means of galvanizing its people, claiming that the exercises are dress rehearsals for an impending invasion.
Image: Reuters/K. Hong-Ji
Huge, colorful demonstrations of military might
Every year, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and citizens roll through the streets of the capital Pyongyang to take part in the North's military parades. Preparations for the rallies often begin months in advance, and the parades usually mark important anniversaries linked with the Communist Party or Kim Jong Un's family.
Sirens across the US state of Hawaii went off for one minute at 11:45 a.m. (21:45 UTC) on Friday, followed by a one-minute "attack warning signal," the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HEMA) said.
"It is critically important for the public to understand what each tone means," Vern Miyagi, the head of HEMA, told the Honolulu Star Advertiser newspaper.
The warning sound means people should immediately seek shelter, the paper said, "because a North Korean missile could arrive in Hawaii just 20 minutes after launch."
Despite Friday's test, many on Hawaii's beaches failed to take notice, according to reports.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has called on all countries to cut ties to North KoreaImage: Getty Images/D. Angerer
On Wednesday, North Korea successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile, with leader Kim Jong Un declaring his country had now achieved full nuclear statehood.
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the missile had flown higher than any previous missile fired by the communist state.
All 15 UN council members have condemned the launch.
On Friday, South Korea's Defense Ministry said the launch is potentially capable of striking targets as far away as 13,000 kilometers (8,100 miles), putting Washington within reach.
Japan has said it will host a ministerial meeting of the UN Security Council on December 15 to look for peaceful ways to prompt North Korea to end its nuclear and ballistic missile tests and denuclearize the Korean peninsula.
Japan's UN Ambassador Koro Bessho said more must be done beyond the "very robust" sanctions the council has imposed targeting the financing and materials for Kim Jong Un's nuclear and missile programs.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to brief the council, with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson likely to attend.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, told an emergency council meeting on Wednesday that the missile launch had brought the world closer to a war the US doesn't want, warning that if war comes then Kim's regime "will be utterly destroyed."
Haley's comment drew a sharp rebuke from Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday.
"If somebody is very eager to use force to wipe out North Korea, as the United States' UN envoy said, it was a very bloodthirsty tirade," Russian news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying.
Lavrov said he had "the impression over the last two months that there is someone in Washington who wants to provoke new actions" by the North.jbh/cmk (dpa, AP, Reuters)
