Courtesy of Associated Press
North Korea may be able to produce “much stronger” missiles than anticipated, according to a report published Monday by the Institute for Science and International Security. The country, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, has improved its ability to produce fusion engines as the country’s scientists have focused on improving rocket technology.
That doesn’t mean Pyongyang is on the road to a fully developed and potentially deadly intercontinental ballistic missile, however. Instead, the International Institute for Strategic Studies reports, the rocket, which is being assembled at the land-based Plesetsk Cosmodrome, may be a lead-in to a mid-range missile that can reach anywhere from Washington, D.C., down to Florida. North Korea has called the rocket a “space satellite.”
Following the potential launch, the International Institute for Strategic Studies says the rocket could launch with liquid fuel — a less efficient fuel than hydrogen fuel, which was used for the nuclear bomb North Korea tested in September. The Los Angeles Times says that, if the alleged missile tests go through, North Korea will be left with “no qualms about using its nuclear arsenal and missile technology.”
Robert Kelly, an expert on the Hermit Kingdom at Pusan National University in South Korea, told the Wall Street Journal that the United States could feel concerned by North Korea’s capabilities, given that the country has been gradually building its atomic weapons capabilities.
“The last thing I would say is don’t worry about nukes,” he said. “North Korea doesn’t care about nukes.”
Read the full story at The Washington Post.
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