North Korea Shows Off Enough ICBM’s to OVERWHELM US Defenses

North Korea and its lengthy lineage of dainty, desperate despots have been the butt of an untold number of jokes within the international community for decades, thanks in no small part to their bizarre behavior and completely silly saber rattling, but the times they are a’changin’.

The DPRK has grown ever more aggressive on the world’s stage of late, bolstered by the growing Axis of Authoritarianism that’s sprung up in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  North Korea, Iran, Russia, and China have all been rather coordinated in their attempts to menace the western world of late, and the latest threat out of Pyongyang is no laughing matter.

North Korea’s military displayed enough intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to defeat America’s air defenses on the West Coast, according to satellite images of a martial parade on Wednesday.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un organized the parade throughout last week, showing off up to 12 individual Hwasong-17 ICBM launchers. The U.S. has just 44 missile interceptors on America’s West Coast, with some stationed in California and others in Alaska, according to Politico.

If the 12 ICBMs carry a payload of four warheads each, they would overwhelm America’s prepared defenses, according to the report.

How worried should we be?

North Korea has struggled to demonstrate the range capability of its ICBMs, however, through the Hwasong-17s are thought to be capable of reaching the U.S. from the country.

Of course, the hermit kingdom’s long history of spectacular missile failures precedes them, and there is no telling whether or not the paraded devices are as functional as Kim Jong Un is letting on.