Would North Korea Drop An ICBM off the Coast of Hawaii or California?

Here’s some more It’s something I never would have imagined. In 2017 and beyond 2018 during The height North Korea crisis: Washington doesn’t really care about Kim regime or its problems Missiles anymore. 

The reasons are simple to grasp. Pyongyang is not willing to give up its missiles. nukes Under any circumstances, the Biden team will not sacrifice the political capital required to strike a compromise deal for which Republicans and hawkish Democrats will attack the administration. 

We don’t have Donald Trump tweeting big buttons about North Korea or threatening nuclear war anymore.

All this means the Biden national security team just hopes that North Korea doesn’t do it. Tensions can be increased Enough so they Would have to do some thing About the Kims. 

They say that hope is not strategy.

At this point, the Biden administration doesn’t practice strategic patience like Obama’s. I would describe it as giving up and accepting North Korea’s status of a nuclear weapons state de facto and hoping no one calls it out. 

The Next North Korea Crisis

They will be able to do so if North Korea escalates tensions and tests a nuclear weapon, so that it lands outside the Exclusive Economic Zones of Hawaii or Alaska. This is why I believe it could be possible. 

So far, North Korea has not tested ICBMs. Dating back to 2017 The missiles have landed in the Sea of Japan and East Sea, but only for lofted trajectory tests fires. These missiles, which are designed to strike the U.S. homeland have never flown above Japan or into the Pacific, or near U.S. military bases or territories. 

However, these days, North Korea keeps threatening over and over to respond to recent U.S.-ROK military drills – no matter the fact that they are no threat to the Kim regime at all. 

However, I am a little concerned by Kim Yo Jong’s recent statements. “The frequency of using the Pacific as our firing range depends upon the U.S. forces’ action character.” 

Fair enough, North Korea has already dropped missiles into Pacific waters before. There has never been an ICBM modern like those being tested, even though there was a moratorium on testing them until 2017.  

What if Kim Yo Jong is hinting that North Korea could start testing ICBMs at range and not just up in the air and down again – something they Hinted at What was the date of December 20, last year?

Do you need more evidence? Want more evidence? “For several years, so-called experts have been saying that our ICBMs reentry into the atmosphere has not been recognized or verified…it seems obvious that they will try to disparage our strategic weapon capabilities with such a logic that it cannot be proven by a lofted-angle launch alone, and that it can only be known by firing at a normal angle…I’ll give an easy answer to that. We can try it soon and once you see it, you’ll know.”

What if her brother decided that he would start firing missiles into Pacific to test the U.S. resolve. Imagine if Team Biden was too busy with Ukraine and fired his ICBMs into the Pacific, instead of waiting for Team Biden to respond? 

And to take this a step further, if he really wanted to start a crisis, why not fire one of those missiles so it lands outside of U.S. waters – like say off of Hawaii or California? 

This is North Korea we are talking about – and they are always looking for ways to get back into the news cycle. This would definitely fit the bill. 

Harry J. Kazianis (@Grecianformula) is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive and serves as President and CEO of Rogue States Project, a bipartisan national security think tank. He has held high-ranking positions at The Center for the National InterestThe Heritage Foundation, Potomac Foundation and many other think tanks and educational institutions that focus on defense issues. He was a member of the Russia task force to support Senator Ted Cruz’s bid for the presidency. His ideas have been published by the New York Times. Washington Post. Wall Street Journal. Newsweek. CNN. CNBC. And many other outlets. He has a Harvard University degree in International Relations. He is also the author of The Tao of A2/AD which examines the Chinese military modernization. Kazianis has also a background as a defense journalist, having been Editor-In-Chief of The Diplomat and Executive editor for the National Interest.

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