<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>North Korea has dramatically ramped up missile tests this year and tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBMs) on Thursday, as part of efforts to develop a nuclear-tipped missile that can strike the U.S. mainland.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Here are some characteristics of ICBMs, and North Korea's ICBM arsenal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>What are ICBMs?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">ICBMs are ballistic missiles with a minimum range of about 5,500 kilometres, chiefly designed for nuclear weapons delivery. Some are capable of travelling 10,000 km or farther.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some missiles carry only one warhead, but modern ICBMs can carry multiple warheads, each able to it a separate aimpoint, on independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs).</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">ICBMs can be launched from multiple platforms. Fixed launch sites such as missile silos offer more protection but are vulnerable to preemptive strikes. Mobile launchers, including submarines, heavy trucks and rails, are more difficult to detect and provide greater mobility but are vulnerable if caught in the open.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Who has them?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russia, the United States, China, Britain, France, and India have deployed ICBMs, either on land or at sea.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">North Korea conducted the first successful test of its Hwasong-14 ICBM in July 2017.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>How many ICBMs does North Korea have?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Shortly after two successful tests of the Hwasong-14, North Korea launched a new ICBM, the Hwasong-15, in November 2017.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The continental United States is about 9,000 km from North Korea, and some US and South Korean experts believe both missiles can fly more than 10,000 km, putting many parts of the United States in range.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared after the Hwasong-15 test that the country had achieved the "great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In March 2022, North Korea launched its massive Hwasong-17 ICBM for the first time after unveiling it at a pre-dawn military parade in October 2020. The missile is large enough to potentially deliver a nuclear warhead anywhere in the United States.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Unlike any of North Korea's previous ICBM tests, the Hwasong-17 was launched directly from a transporter-erector-launcher vehicle with 11 axles, which experts said is the largest road-mobile, liquid-fuelled ICBM in the world.&nbsp; Reuters</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>