SEOUL AFP, 25 March, 2022-  North Korea likely has “more in store” after successfully test-firing its largest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile this week, a top White House official said Friday.   

Thursday’s launch was the first time Pyongyang has fired Kim Jong Un’s most powerful missiles at full range since 2017.   

It was conducted under Kim’s “direct guidance”, and ensures his country is ready for “long-standing confrontation” with the US, state media outlet KCNA reported Friday. “We see this as part of a pattern of testing and provocation from North Korea... we think there is likely more in store,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on board Air Force One.   

The missile appears to have travelled higher and further than any previous ICBM tested by the nuclear-armed country -- including one designed to strike anywhere on the US mainland.   

Known as the Hwasong-17, the giant ICBM was first unveiled in October 2020 and dubbed a “monster missile” by analysts.