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   From: burn-the-faggots@glaad.org   
      
   North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile on   
   Friday that, for the first time, appeared capable of reaching   
   the West Coast of the United States, according to experts — a   
   milestone that American presidents have long declared the United   
   States could not tolerate.   
      
   The launch, the second of an intercontinental missile in 24   
   days, did not answer the question of whether the North has   
   mastered all the technologies necessary to deliver a nuclear   
   weapon to targets in the lower 48 states. But just a few days   
   ago, the Defense Intelligence Agency warned the Trump   
   administration that the North would probably be able to do so   
   within a year, and Friday’s test left little doubt that Kim Jong-   
   un, the North Korean leader, is speeding toward that goal.   
      
   The missile launched on Friday remained aloft for roughly 47   
   minutes, according to American, South Korean and Japanese   
   officials, following a steep trajectory that took it roughly   
   2,300 miles into space. It then turned and arced sharply down   
   into the sea near the northernmost Japanese island, Hokkaido.   
      
   If that trajectory had been flattened out — a step the North may   
   have avoided for fear of provoking an American military response   
   — the missile could have put a number of major American cities   
   at risk, experts say. The Pentagon was quick to declare that the   
   “North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) determined the   
   missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North   
   America.” That statement, while true, ignored the potential long-   
   term implications of the launch.   
      
   “Depending on how heavy a warhead it carries, this latest North   
   Korean missile would easily reach the West Coast of the United   
   States with a range of 9,000 to 10,000 kilometers,” or 5,600 to   
   6,200 miles, said Kim Dong-yub, a defense analyst at the   
   Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University in   
   Seoul. “With this missile, North Korea leaves no doubt that its   
   missile has a range that covers most of the United States.”   
      
   North Korea’s official news agency said Saturday that Kim Jong-   
   un had called the test a “stern warning” to the United States.   
   He also boasted that the North was “capable of the surprise   
   launching of an intercontinental ballistic missile at any time   
   and from anywhere and that all of the mainland United States is   
   within the range of our missiles.”   
      
   The United States has gone to extraordinary lengths — feeding   
   flawed parts into the North Korean production system and   
   mounting internet attacks to cause test failures — to slow North   
   Korea’s missile program. A few hours before the test, Congress   
   approved the latest round of sanctions to squeeze the North.   
      
   While there have been some tactical successes, they have not   
   stopped the weapons program. And Mr. Kim, determined to show the   
   United States that he would not waver from his goal, has stepped   
   up the pace of testing. In his remarks on Saturday, Mr. Kim said   
   that the threat of sanctions or military action against the   
   North “only strengthens our resolve and further justifies our   
   possession of nuclear weapons.”   
      
   In a break with past practice, the White House turned out a   
   statement in the name of President Trump, but it made no mention   
   of the distance the missile flew or its implications. It read   
   like many of President Barack Obama’s and President George W.   
   Bush’s statements at similar moments.   
      
   “By threatening the world, these weapons and tests further   
   isolate North Korea, weaken its economy, and deprive its   
   people,” Mr. Trump said. “The United States will take all   
   necessary steps to ensure the security of the American homeland   
   and protect our allies in the region.”   
      
   Mr. Trump hoped to end North Korea’s provocations with the help   
   of China, and he thought he had an agreement with President Xi   
   Jinping to pressure Mr. Kim. But over the past two months, Mr.   
   Trump discovered, as his predecessors did, that the Chinese are   
   more concerned about preventing the collapse of North Korea’s   
   government, and the chaos that would ensue, than they are in   
   trade and energy sanctions that might truly change its behavior.   
      
   On Saturday, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned   
   the North Korean missile test, but it also urged other countries   
   to avoid responding in ways that could set off any tit-for-tat   
   retaliation.   
      
   “China opposes North Korea engaging launch activities that   
   violate Security Council resolutions and the universal wishes of   
   the international community,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry   
   spokesman, Geng Shuang, said in comments issued on the   
   ministry’s website.   
      
   Mr. Geng urged North Korea to abide by the United Nations   
   Security Council resolutions banning its missile and nuclear   
   tests, and said that North Korea should “halt any actions that   
   may lead to a further escalation of tensions on the peninsula.”   
   But Mr. Geng added, “At the same time, it is hoped that all   
   parties act prudently, and prevent a spiraling escalation of   
   tensions.”   
      
   Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin   
   University in Beijing, said that the Chinese government would   
   interpret the test as affirmation of its view that Mr. Trump’s   
   policies toward North Korea were failing.   
      
   But China has not been able to change Mr. Kim’s behavior either,   
   Mr. Shi said. China has not demonstrated an ability “to persuade   
   Kim Jong-un to abandon what he is determined to do,” he said.   
      
   For Mr. Trump, the launch poses one of the biggest challenges of   
   his presidency. Like Bill Clinton, Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama before   
   him, Mr. Trump declared that the North would not succeed in   
   obtaining a missile that could put American cities at risk. “It   
   won’t happen,” he declared in a Jan. 2 tweet, not long after Mr.   
   Obama warned him that the North would probably pose the most   
   urgent national security threat he would face.   
      
   American officials, led by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, have   
   been careful not to threaten to carry out a pre-emptive strike   
   on the North’s nuclear and missile capabilities, which Mr.   
   Mattis has warned could reignite the Korean War. Cyberattacks,   
   while more politically palatable, are of uncertain   
   effectiveness. And sanctions have done little.   
      
   Now, outside experts said, it has happened. David C. Wright, a   
   senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an anti-   
   proliferation group in Cambridge, Mass., said in a blog post on   
   Friday that the missile appeared to have an effective range of   
   at least 6,500 miles — putting Los Angeles, Denver and Chicago   
   well within range. He wrote that Boston and New York “may be   
   just within range, and Washington “may be just out of range.”   
      
   But such estimates are always subject to uncertainty. North   
   Korea’s aim is famously poor and it is unclear how long it would   
   take the country to build a workable nuclear warhead that can   
   survive re-entry into the atmosphere.   
      
   And Dr. Wright cautioned that Western analysts have no idea how   
      
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