North Korea fired what it called an intermediate-range strategic missile on Oct. 3, a test that one expert says could put Guam and parts of Alaska within reach of Pyongyang’s weapons, even as President Donald Trump keeps pushing to restart personal diplomacy with Kim Jong Un.
North Korean state media said Kim personally oversaw the launch. According to Reuters, citing North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency, the weapon was described as part of a “hypersonic strategic weapon system” and flew about 1,000 kilometers, or 621 miles, into waters off the country’s east coast.
Sydney Seiler, a former U.S. Forces Korea analyst and former National Intelligence Council officer focused on North Korea, told Fox News Digital the missile’s range carries weight well beyond the Korean Peninsula.
“What is interesting about an IRBM launch — an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flies around 3,000 to 5,000 kilometers — is that it brings Guam, parts of Alaska, and Japan into range of North Korea,” said Seiler, now a nonresident senior adviser with the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Guam is a U.S. territory in the western Pacific that hosts major military installations, including Andersen Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam, giving it strategic weight in any discussion of North Korean missile range.
Seiler cautioned against reading the launch as a direct reply to Trump. “But when you consider the preparation required for an intermediate-range ballistic missile system, it is unlikely this was primarily a response to the president’s comments or actions over the past few days,” he said.
Hours after the launch, Trump spoke about his relationship with Kim at a rally in Vandalia, Ohio. “I get along great with Kim Jong Un. Isn’t it nice to get along with the leaders of massive nuclear nations?” he said, adding, “When someone has 112 nuclear missiles, it is better to get along with them.”
“North Korea simply isn’t interested in talking right now, so they have no incentive not to launch,” Seiler said. “The fact that they’re doing these missile launches amid a diplomatic effort by President Trump to try to re-engage the North, you have to see them only as somewhat related.”
A pattern of tests
The Oct. 3 launch followed North Korea’s firing of two short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area on Sept. 20, according to reports. Officials from the U.S., South Korea and Japan said the tests violate U.N. Security Council resolutions and threaten regional and international security.
Seiler said the latest launch fits a broader pattern: “within the larger context of a current absolute stand down on dialogue with South Korea and repeated rejections of overtures from the United States for dialogue.” Still, he noted some restraint. “North Korea has refrained from some more aggressive actions during the president’s term of office; we haven’t seen an ICBM launch for almost two years now.”
That restraint, he warned, shouldn’t be mistaken for any willingness to give up the North’s weapons programs. “For North Korea, their overall diplomatic strategy is to condition the world to accept them for who they are: a non-denuclearizing, missile-launching, occasionally provoking, and rhetorically coercive state,” Seiler said. “As time goes on, their goal is for us to give up any hope of denuclearization or structural change, which is consistent with them establishing a baseline: whether diplomacy unfolds or not, they will continue to develop and demonstrate missile technology.”
Trump keeps the door open
Trump and Kim held summits in Singapore in 2018 and Hanoi in 2019, and met at Panmunjom in the Korean Demilitarized Zone later that year, when Trump briefly crossed into North Korean territory. Seiler said Trump remains committed to reviving that engagement, including “suggesting he is open to a phone call.”
“While a call might not yield immediate progress on denuclearization, it contributes to tension reduction and helps establish a direct relationship necessary for future crisis management on the peninsula,” Seiler said.
Complicating that effort is Kim’s growing alignment with Russian President Vladimir Putin. North Korea has sent troops and military equipment to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, which Seiler said reduces Kim’s incentive to engage Washington. “Right now, Kim Jong Un, particularly given his emerging relationship with Vladimir Putin and everything he’s getting out of the relationship with Russia right now, simply doesn’t need to talk to the United States,” he said.
Rodman’s connection
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who has made multiple trips to North Korea and met personally with Kim, joined Trump at a Peterbilt plant in Denton, Texas, on Oct. 1 before traveling with the president toward a rally in Durant, Oklahoma.
Asked in Texas whether he was using Rodman to help broker peace with Pyongyang, Trump instead emphasized his own rapport with Kim. “As long as I’m here, you’re not gonna have any problems. Somebody else comes, you’re gonna have some big problems,” Trump said. He also credited Rodman’s history with Kim: “When I wanted to get to know Kim Jong Un when we were having a problem—Kim Jong Un and I get along—but the one who knew him best was Dennis Rodman.”
Seiler said Rodman could still offer useful insight. “Dennis Rodman has a very interesting perspective in that he was able to interact with Kim Jong Un over a number of visits and get to know him personally, to develop some rapport without any diplomatic baggage,” Seiler said. “He may be offering President Trump insights into Kim Jong Un’s personality, values, and potential approaches, but, you know, as I think Dennis Rodman’s representatives have said, he is still a long way off from getting airplane tickets.”
