From: slider@anashram.org

Washington (CNN)North Korea issued a direct challenge to President Donald
Trump with the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that Defense Secretary James Mattis said demonstrates it has the ability to hit "everywhere in the world."

Pyongyang launched a Hwasong-14 missile in the early hours of Wednesday
morning local time that flew higher, and demonstrated a longer range, than
any of its previous tests.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/28/politics/north-korea-missile-launch/index.html

It was the first missile fired in almost two months, and came despite
Trump's repeated warnings, delivered again during this trip to South Korea earlier this month in a direct message to North Korea: "do not try us."

The missile launched Wednesday spent around 53 minutes in the air,
reaching a height of up to 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles), before
splashing down in waters around 210 kilometers (130 miles) west of Japan's Aomori prefecture, according to authorities in Japan and South Korea.

Hours after the launch, Trump sounded more restrained, telling reporters Tuesday at the White House that the US "will handle" the situation. "We
will take care of it," the President said, adding later that North Korea
"is a situation that we will handle."

Mattis, who was with Trump in the Roosevelt Room of the White House,
outlined how much tougher that situation has become. The test missile, he
said, went "higher, frankly, than any previous shot they have taken" and demonstrates that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un now has the ability to
hit "everywhere in the world basically."

"The bottom line is, it's a continued effort to build a threat -- a
ballistic missile threat that endangers world peace, regional peace and certainly the United States," Mattis concluded.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson strongly condemned the launch and called
for redoubled international pressure on Pyongyang, saying that the US
"remains committed to finding a peaceful path to denuclearization." But he added a lightly veiled warning about limited US patience.

"Diplomatic options remain viable and open, for now," Tillerson said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who sits on the Armed
Services Committee, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that, "If we have to go to war
to stop this, we will. If there's a war with North Korea it will be
because North Korea brought it on itself, and we're headed to a war if
things don't change."

On Wednesday, a North Korea official reiterated comments made to CNN in
October that there would be no diplomacy until the country has proven its nuclear capabilities.

The official added the two steps needed to achieve this goal were the
"testing of a long-range ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile)"
capable of reaching the US, followed by an above-ground nuclear detonation.

"Before we can engage in diplomacy with the Trump administration, we want
to send a clear message that the DPRK has a reliable defensive and
offensive capability to counter any aggression from the United States,"
the official said, referring to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Prior to today's launch, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had warned
of devastating consequences if the US takes military action against North Korea. Pyongyang can batter Seoul with a barrage of conventional weapons, putting millions of South Koreans and more than 28,000 US troops stationed there within easy target range.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, speaking from Tokyo, issued a warning
of his own. The latest missile launch, he said, "significantly undermines
the strong determination of the international community's peaceful
resolution of the issue."

### - an "above ground" nuke test to follow?

just ain't gonna go away is it...

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