H.R. McMaster brushes off reports that North Korea ICBM broke up

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — National security adviser H.R. McMaster said Saturday that North Korea is improving its nuclear missile program even amid reports that the regime’s intercontinental ballistic missile launched this week broke upon re-entry.

Kim Jong Un’s regime tested the Hwasong-15 missile last week and the Pentagon said it travel higher than any previous its ICBMs, putting all of the United States within range. But the missile did not successfully re-enter the atmosphere, a key ability for a functional ICBM, according to multiple news reports Saturday.