U.S. intelligence agencies say North Korea is developing a road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach parts of the United States, Bloomberg reports.
The KN-08 has been been displayed twice in parades, and "we assess that North Korea has already taken initial steps towards fielding this system, although it remains untested," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, said in his latest annual unclassified Worldwide Threat assessment.
North Korea’s missile development, along with concern about Iranian weapons programs, is the principle rationale for the $34 billion U.S. ground based-missile defense program managed by Boeing Co. (BA), which hasn’t had a successful interception test since December 2008.
The Air Force’s National Air and Space Intelligence Center said in its latest public report last year that the missile, also known as the Hwasong-13, is estimated to have a maximum range of at least 5,500 kilometers (3,420 miles), far enough to reach Alaska but not the Pacific Northwest.
Flight tests have not yet ben conducted for the new missile, which one analyst told Bloomberg was the "most definitive step toward fielding a missile."
