2017-02-12

North Korea conducted a ballistic missile test early on Sunday morning (local time), the first such test of the new Trump administration. The missile was fired into the sea, a provocative, though not unprecedented move by Pyongyang in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning such tests by North Korea in order to deter the country from developing nuclear capability.

Here’s more on the test from CNN:

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff told CNN that the missile appears to be a modified intermediate-range Musudan level missile. Earlier analysis had guessed it to be a shorter-range Rodong. They ruled out the possibility that it was a longer-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) -- which are usually designed to carry nuclear warheads --
based on the flight distance. Sources told CNN that the missile traveled 500 kilometers (310 miles) before landing in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, and that it was launched from North Pyongan Province.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned the test from Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, stating that it “can absolutely not be tolerated.” “The United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100 percent,” Trump said on Saturday.

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