North Korea now has the proven ability to hit Washington, D.C.

Unproven still is whether Kim can put a miniaturized nuclear warhead atop that missile, which could be fired with precision, and survive the severe vibrations of re-entry. More tests and more time are needed for that.

Thus, U.S. markets brushed off the news of Kim's Hwasong-15 missile and roared to record heights on Wednesday and Thursday.

President Donald Trump took it less well. "Little Rocket Man" is one "sick puppy," he told an audience in Missouri.

U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley told the Security Council that "if war comes … the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed." She than warned Xi Jinping that "if China does not halt the oil shipments" to North Korea, "we can take the oil situation into our own hands."