SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea’s latest missile test may have less to do with perfecting its weapons technology than with showing U.S. and South Korean forces in the region that it can strike them at will.
South Korean and Japanese officials said the suspected Scud-type short-range missile flew about 450 kilometers (280 miles) before landing in Japan’s maritime economic zone Monday, setting off the usual round of condemnation from Washington and the North’s neighbors.
It’s the latest in a string of test launches as the North seeks to build nuclear-tipped ICBMs that can reach the U.S. mainland, a drive that puts North Korea high on the list of foreign policy worries for Japan, Washington and Seoul.
North Korea, however, already has a strong arsenal of reliable short-range missiles. It doesn’t usually need to test more to improve its technology, as it does with its less dependable, longer range missiles.
This sets up the potential that Pyongyang is looking to use the test to show it can hit U.S. targets near and far and to emphasize its defiance of U.S.-led pressure on its missile and nuclear programs, which has included vague threats from President Donald Trump and the arrival in Korean waters of powerful U.S. military hardware. Scuds are capable of striking U.S. troops in South Korea, for instance, and the two newly developed missiles tested earlier this month have potential ranges that include Japan, Guam and even, according to some South Korean analysts, Alaska.