North Korea Threat to US Feared After Cruise-Missile Test

North Korea's escalating test launches and Kim Jong-un's open hostility towards the South suggest that Pyongyang could be ready to take some form of lethal military action against Seoul in the coming months, according to U.S. officials.

Jonathan Finer, the White House deputy national security adviser, said at an Asia Society forum in Washington on Thursday that North Korea had "chosen to continue going down a very negative path." While Kim is known to make provocations, Finer added that the latest escalation of aggressive statements and missile launches should be taken seriously.

North Korea's state media reported on Thursday that the country has conducted its first flight test of a new cruise missile, yet another escalation of the threat the country poses to the region.

The Pulhwasal-3-31 missile is still in development phase and the test launch didn't pose a threat to neighboring countries, including South Korea, according to the North Korean Central News Agency. It said the missile is strategic, a description that has widely been interpreted to mean that the Pulhwasal-3-31 could be armed with nuclear weapons.

The previous day, South Korea's military said it had detected the North firing several cruise missiles into waters off its western coast, though it didn't provide further details about the exact number fired nor their characteristics.

South Korean officials said that the missiles flew a shorter distance than previous cruise missiles launched from the North, suggesting the country is still working on improving their performance.

These shows of strength from North Korea have grown in recent weeks, with the country launching its first solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile on January 14.

The launch of the missile, tipped with a hypersonic maneuverable warhead, was aimed at testing its "gliding and maneuvering characteristics" and the "reliability of newly developed multi-stage high-thrust solid-fuel engines," according to North Korean authorities. The country said the launch, the first of the year, "had nothing to do with the regional situation."

On January 5, North Korea fired more than 200 rounds of artillery shells near a disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea, prompting the evacuation of two South Korean islands by Seoul authorities. South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik described the incident as an act of provocation escalating tensions in the Korean peninsula and threatening its peace.

North Korea's growing arsenal is considered to be a significant threat to its neighbors Japan and South Korea. The North Korean leader Kim recently said both should be considered an enemy as the reunification of the two countries is no longer possible. In a speech on December 30, Kim added the two should consider the countries "at war."

The U.S., which has thousands of troops stationed in South Korea and which has been the object of Kim's nuclear-conflict threats in recent months, is keeping a close eye on the country—and is getting increasingly alarmed.

Despite concerns, U.S. officials don't believe there is any imminent risk of a full-scale war in the region. A conflict in the Korean peninsula is likely to mean war with the U.S. as well for North Korea, as nearly 30,000 American soldiers are already based in South Korea.

U.S. officials say it is more likely that Pyongyang would carry out strikes against the South in a way that avoids the rapid escalation of the conflict into a full-scale war involving American forces.