North Korea To Time Missile Launch Around US Election: South Korean Lawmakers

[George4]

North Korea To Time Missile Launch Around US Election: South Korean Lawmakers North Korea has moved into place a launcher ready for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and may decide to set it off around the time of the U.S. presidential election, South Korean lawmakers said on Wednesday (October 30), citing military intelligence.Member of Parliament (MP), Lee Seong-kweun, said a mobile launcher has been deployed at a location for a possible test of the ICBM and its atmospheric re-entry of a missile warhead, potentially around the time of the November 5 U.S. elections. Lee was briefing reporters after a closed-door parliamentary hearing with Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officials.Another MP, Park Sun-won, said that the possibility of a seventh nuclear test cannot be ruled out. "Internal preparations at Punggye-ri, Kilju County of North Hamgyong Province, where the North's current nuclear test site located, appear to be almost finished.” Park said.North Korea has performed a series of ICBM test launches at a sharply steep trajectory to let the projectiles drop within much shorter distances relative to the designed range, partly for safety and to avoid the political fallout of sending a missile far into the Pacific. But a launch with a flatter, standard trajectory is considered essential for ICBM development to ensure the warhead is capable of making a re-entry into the atmosphere while maintaining control to hit an intended target.