This Is Why North Korea's Latest Missile Launch Is So Concerning

Saturday marked another breakthrough in North Korea's broad array of missile programs.

Pyongyang successfully launched a new system that could target U.S. military bases in Guam. North Korea is now one step closer to developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that could eventually threaten the continental United States.

Pyongyang announced that the Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile flew 490 miles, but at an angle of 1,300 miles. Experts assess that, had the missile been flown at a normal trajectory, it could have reached 2,800 miles. Guam is 2,200 miles from North Korea.

The regime declared the missile can carry a "large-size heavy nuclear warhead."

When first revealed in last month's military parade in Pyongyang, the Hwasong-12 appeared to be a shortened version of the KN-08 intercontinental ballistic missile.

It may be a replacement or augmentation for the Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile, even as it tests technologies for the KN-08 ICBM.

Saturday's successful launch means Pyongyang's quest to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile is progressing more quickly than previously thought.

This January, analysts greeted with skepticism Kim Jong Un's claim that he had an ICBM in the "late stages of development." There are far fewer skeptics today.

Saturday's launch may have been the missile's maiden test flight. While much has been made of North Korea's numerous missile launch failures, those have been concentrated in systems still under development.

For comparison, the United States had very high failure rates in the initial development of its Redstone, Vanguard, Atlas and Titan missile programs.

Kim Jong Un has greatly accelerated the development and testing programs for all ranges of North Korea's missile systems. During his five years in power, he has overseen three times as many missile launches as his father did during his 18-year reign.

This is the 10th North Korean missile launch this year.

The regime achieved several other notable successes in 2016-2017. This February, North Korea launched the new KN-15 medium-range ballistic missile—its first successful solid-fueled missile fired from a mobile launcher.

In August 2016, Pyongyang conducted a successful test launch of a submarine-launched ballistic missile. The missile traveled 300 miles, but with an unusually high trajectory. If launched on a regular high trajectory, the missile might have traveled over 600 miles.

In June 2016, the regime successfully flew a Musudan intermediate-range missile, also at an unusually high trajectory so as not to overfly Japan and to verify "the heat-resistance capability of warhead in the re-entry section and its flight stability," including for strategic nuclear weapons.

Had the missile been flown on a normal trajectory, it could have traveled 2,500 miles, putting U.S. bases in Guam at risk.