On November 20, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that North Korea was re-listed by the
State Department as a
state sponsor of terrorism.
[128][129] Japan and South Korea welcomed the move as a method of increasing pressure on North Korea to negotiate about denuclearization.
[130]
On November 28, 2017, North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile in the first such launch from the country in more than two months. The missile, believed by the U.S. military to be an ICBM, was launched from
Sain Ni and flew roughly 1,000 km (620 mi) before landing in the
Sea of Japan.
[131]
After North Korea claimed that the missile was capable of "carrying [a] super-heavy [nuclear] warhead and hitting the whole mainland of the U.S.", Kim-Jong-Un announced that they had "finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force",
[132] putting them in a position of strength to push the United States into talks.
[133]
In August 2019 Japan has upgraded its estimate of North Korea's nuclear weapons capability in an upcoming annual Defence White Paper, saying it seems Pyongyang has achieved the miniaturization of warheads. The defence report will maintain Japan's contention that North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs pose a "serious and imminent threat" to its security after recent meetings between Donald Trump and the North's leader, Kim Jong Un, failed to make progress on denuclearisation.
[134][135]
Bruce Klingner of the U.S.-based
Heritage Foundation estimated, in June 2020, that North Korea has likely built "eight or more additional nuclear weapons" since the 2018 summit.
[136]
On October 10, 2020, North Korea unveiled a massive
ICBM during a military parade for the 75th anniversary of the
Workers' Party of Korea, with
CNN reporting that military analysts believe it is one of the world's largest road-mobile ballistic missiles.
[137]