US ICBM Minuteman III. EPA Yonhap News. 

The United States conducted a test launch of its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Minuteman III, on the 5th (local time).

The US military test-fired an unarmed Minuteman III from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on that day, according to a statement from the base.

The base stated that the test was aimed at evaluating the continued reliability, operational readiness, and accuracy of the US ICBM system. The Minuteman III's reentry vehicle traveled approximately 4,200 miles (6,759 km) and landed at the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site in the Marshall Islands.

Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Russian Kremlin, told the Russian news agency Interfax that the US had provided prior notification of the test launch plans.

The Minuteman III, with a range of 9,600 km, is a strategic weapon system for the United States capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Prior to this test launch, the most recent known Minuteman III test launch occurred in November 2023 during the Biden administration. At that time, the launch was announced as having been halted due to an "anomaly." However, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that the missile exploded mid-flight due to an anomaly.

This test launch is drawing attention as it follows US President Donald Trump's announcement on social media on the 30th of last month (Korean time), just before the US-China summit (in Busan), that the United States would also resume nuclear weapons testing.

ICBMs like the Minuteman III, along with strategic bombers and nuclear submarines, are considered the three main delivery systems for US nuclear weapons. As a key pillar of US nuclear deterrence, this test launch can be seen as a "nuclear weapons test in a broad sense." However, it is on a different level than the "nuclear weapon explosive tests" that many people envisioned when President Trump mentioned the "resumption of nuclear weapons testing."

Analysts interpreted President Trump's remarks about resuming nuclear weapons testing as a signal of the US potentially restarting physical nuclear weapon explosive tests, similar to the underground nuclear tests conducted by North Korea, after decades. US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright had previously explained on the 2nd that they were pursuing system tests without nuclear explosions.

Yonhap News