North Korea says U.S. mainland is ‘in the firing range’

“From the outset of the New Year, remarkable successes have been achieved in the sacred historic work to remarkably strengthen the war deterrent of our state,” North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement released Tuesday.

Among the weapons fired were an alleged hypersonic missile system, train-fired ballistic missiles and long-range cruise missiles. Of particular concern was the Jan. 30 launch of the Hwasong-12, an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam.

“In particular, when we conducted the test-launch of hypersonic missile and the evaluation test-fire of Hwasong 12-type, [international media] raised their voices of recognizing surely about our great military power,” the statement said.

The ministry also bragged of its Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile, last tested in 2017 and considered by analysts to have the range to reach the continental United States.

“There are more than 200 countries in the world, but only a few countries possess even H-bomb, ICBM and hypersonic missile,” the statement said. “Only our state on earth stands against the U.S. … and sets the world atremble with a seismic amplitude from the missile test, putting the U.S. mainland in the firing range.”