According to Reuters, North Korea has fired a ballistic missile that flew about 500 miles into the sea off their coast. This happened just days after the U.S. imposed sanctions on North Korea. This missile launch is just the latest in a series of military moves by North Korea. Just months after North Korea claims that they have managed to develop a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on a ballistic missile they began launching tests of missiles. North Korea often fires test missiles after they are ordered to halt their military weapons programs out of defiance. The missile that was launched was just a short range missile, and the last mid range missile they launched was back in 2014.

Kim Jeong Un has ordered doubled efforts on his nuclear weapons development in order to increase attack range and effectiveness. While there is no concrete evidence that North Korea has any nuclear weapons at all, the international stance is to err on the side of caution and act under the assumption they have a capable nuclear weapon. Back in January of this year, they launched their 4th nuclear weapons test using a long range rocket. This act was a complete disregard of the U.N. Security Counsel resolutions.