North Korea says it has successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) under the supervision of leader Kim Jong-un, and that it was capable of hitting anywhere in the world.
The Hwasong-14 missile reached an altitude of 2,802km and hit its target precisely after flying for 39 minutes, the North’s state television said.
The missile was launched from country’s western region into the sea off its east coast on Tuesday, according to officials in South Korea and Japan.
The “unidentified ballistic missile” was fired at around 00:40 GMT from a site near Banghyon in North Pyongan province and flew about 930 kilometres, coming down in the Sea of Japan, South Korea’s military said in a statement.
President Moon Jae-in said the military was analysing the launch with the possibility that it may have been an ICBM.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters the missile flew for 40 minutes – an unusually long flight time.
“This launch of a ballistic missile can never be tolerated, and Japan strongly protested to North Korea and condemned it,” he told a briefing.
The US military’s Pacific Command said in a statement that North Korea had launched a land-based intermediate range ballistic missile.
“The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) assessed that the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America,” it said in a statement.
Source: Al Jazeera