North Korea Fires Record-breaking Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile test this morning, which flew for 74 minutes—the longest-ever flight time for a North Korean missile.

The missile, fired from the Pyongyang area, was detected by South Korea around 10 a.m. Wednesday, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. It reached an altitude of 3,728 miles (6,000 kilometers) and traveled roughly 621 miles (1,000 kilometers) before landing in the Sea of Japan.

Some reports said the weapon was the Hwasong-18, a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (icbm) that North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un has called his most powerful nuclear weapon.

South Korea’s and Japan’s response: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol condemned the launch, which took place while they were attending the nato summit in Lithuania.

Kishida told reporters, “North Korea has been launching ballistic missiles with an increased frequency. The series of actions are threatening our country and region.” Yeol called an emergency meeting with his national security committee. Both leaders want to expand South Korean-United States-Japanese security cooperation.

North Korea’s excuse: The test came just days after North Korea accused U.S. spy planes of violating airspace laws and condemned the U.S. for sending a nuclear-powered submarine to South Korea. Kim’s sister, a member of the State Affairs Commission, warned on Monday that Pyongyang would retaliate if the U.S. military breached North Korea’s exclusive economic zone again. North Korea’s military also threatened to shoot down the spy plane.

The U.S. and South Korea dismissed the accusations. A professor at a university in Seoul, Leif-Eric Easley, said North Korea’s statements were part of an agenda to exaggerate external threats “to rally domestic support and justify weapons tests.” He explained how they intentionally timed it to coordinate with the nato summit, which North Korea views as “diplomatic coordination against it.”

Growing nuclear power: In 2017, the late political columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote in the Washington Post:

Given that Pyongyang has had nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles for more than a decade, why the panic now? Because North Korea is headed for a nuclear breakout. The regime has openly declared that it is racing to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile that can reach the United States—and thus destroy an American city at a Kim Jong-un push of a button.

North Korea achieved that goal shortly after this was written, and the missile launched today is one of those that can reach the U.S. Analysts believe that North Korea’s icbms can now fly far enough to target any U.S. city. And North Korea likely has nuclear warheads that fit in these rockets. As of January 2022, North Korea was estimated to have 45 to 55 warheads. How much has it gotten since?

No flesh saved alive: In a prophecy about the end time, Jesus Christ said, “[E]xcept those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved” (Matthew 24:22). We are in these days now. Nuclear weapons have given mankind the capability of committing self-genocide.

This can be troubling if you don’t know what lies beyond this prophecy. But Christ elaborated on that too, forecasting the greatest event to occur in the universe. In it lies tremendous hope. In his free booklet Nuclear Armageddon Is ‘At the Door,’ Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry writes:

[A]ll this nuclear insanity is also a part of the sign of the Second Coming and the sign of the end of the age when Christ will save humanity from totally exterminating itself!

Learn more: As world evils increase, ground yourself in the hope of the return of Jesus Christ. Time is limited to heed this warning. Request your free copy of Nuclear Armageddon Is ‘At the Door’ to prove these prophecies for yourself.