North Korea claims it test-launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile

by Dramelin 1:30 AM 0 comments

North Korea said it test-launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile Tuesday, contradicting South Korean and U.
officials who earlier said it was an intermediate-range ballistic missile.
Japan’s government said the missile was believed to have landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan but no damage to ships or aircraft in the area has been reported.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters it was fired around 9:40 a.
Tuesday and flew for 40 minutes before landing in the Sea of Japan within waters where Japan claims economic rights.
The South`s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the launch was made from North Korea`s North Phyongan province, The Associated Press and South Korea`s Yonhap news agency said.
The joint chief`s statement says the launch was immediately reported to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the AP reported.
President Trump condemned the missile launch on Twitter and presumably called out North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the process.
"North Korea has just launched another missile.
Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" Trump said on Twitter, adding: "Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer.
Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all! The U.
Pacific Command confirmed it detected an intermediate range ballistic missile near the Panghyon Airfield for 37 minutes as it landed in the Sea of Japan.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said the missile launch did not pose a threat to North America.
READ MORE: Japan`s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sharply criticized North Korea for the launch.
"The latest launch clearly showed that the threat is growing," Abe said.
  Abe, who talked by phone with Trump on Monday, said the two leaders plan to seek cooperation from world leaders when they attend a G20 summit in Germany later this week.
Tensions between the U.
and North Korea have reached heightened levels as North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.
China’s U.
ambassador, Liu Jieyi, warned Monday that further escalation of already high tensions with North Korea risks getting out of control, “and the consequences would be disastrous.
” The Korean Peninsula has been divided between the American-backed South and the authoritarian North since the 1950-53 Korean War.
Worries have increased as the North’s leader Kim Jong Un pushes to expand his nuclear arsenal and develop ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.
Tuesday’s launch is the first by the North since a June 8 test of a new type of cruise missile that Pyongyang says is capable of striking U.
and South Korean warships “at will.
” Contributing: Charles Ventura, Jane Onyanga-Omara, The Associated Press Read or Share this story: https://usat.
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