North Korea on Saturday broadcast images of long-range ballistic missiles that state media said are capable of striking the U.S. mainland, in a rare, high-profile demonstration intended for both domestic audiences and foreign capitals. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) described the weapons as “strategic means for a decisive counterstrike” and said they will ensure “the security of our revolution against U.S. aggression.”

The footage, which showed road-mobile launchers and what analysts described as heavy intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) bodies, follows a string of weapons tests this year and a stepped-up rhetoric from Pyongyang. Washington, Seoul and Tokyo responded with unified condemnation, calling the display provocative and renewing appeals to the United Nations Security Council to consider new measures.

“A clear, continuing violation of U.N. resolutions, and a direct threat to regional and international security,” a U.S. National Security Council official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The United States remains committed to defending itself and our allies,” the official added, without specifying immediate policy moves.

Seoul’s presidential office said the show of force underscored the need for “strengthened deterrence and cooperation” among allies. Tokyo’s foreign ministry likewise expressed grave concern, noting any capability to reach the North American mainland would mark a substantive change in Pyongyang’s operational messaging and demand coordinated responses.

International lawyers and arms control experts said the broadcast poses clear legal and diplomatic challenges. United Nations Security Council resolutions prohibit North Korea from conducting ballistic missile activity, and Pyongyang’s repeated advances have led to a sanctions architecture intended to choke finance and technology transfers for its weapons programs. But enforcement has long been hampered by political divisions among major powers and by the regime’s evolving tactics to circumvent measures.

“This is less about the optics and more about how Pyongyang is signaling its intent: to normalize a strategic reach that alters deterrence calculations,” said Dr. Elise Martin, a nonproliferation specialist at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “It raises tough questions about whether sanctions alone can change behavior and whether engagement or containment should be prioritized.”

Pyongyang’s leaders have consistently framed weapons advances as necessary defensive measures against what they portray as ongoing U.S. hostility. Inside North Korea, the parade-style presentation is likely aimed at shoring up domestic legitimacy, demonstrating both technological progress and the regime’s promise of security to the population.

The display also pressures Beijing and Moscow, which have historically been cautious about coercive measures that might destabilize the peninsula. Diplomats in New York said the Security Council’s permanent members were due to discuss possible responses, but any punitive action risks further escalation and could complicate humanitarian and diplomatic channels.

For neighbors, the immediate calculus centers on bolstering missile defenses, intensifying trilateral security cooperation and maintaining channels for crisis communication. For Washington and its partners, the episode sharpens an old strategic dilemma: how to deter a nuclear-armed Pyongyang while avoiding steps that could trigger a dangerous spiral of confrontation.