Japanese defense minister Itsunori Onodera confirms that North Korea launched a missile that flew for 50 minutes. The missile landed inside of Japan’s special economic zone in the Sea of Japan, about 250 kilometers 155 miles) west of Aomori, which is on the northern part of Japan’s main island of Honshu. Onodera says the missile could have been an upgraded version of North Korea’s Hwasong-14 ICBM or a new missile.
The country’s state media made the announcement Wednesday, hours after leader Kim Jong Un ordered the 3 a.m. launch of the Hwasong-15 missile, which reached the highest altitude ever recorded by a North Korean missile.
State news agency KCNA called the missile “the most powerful ICBM” and said it “meets the goal of the completion of the rocket weaponry system development set by the DPRK,” or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
US Defense Secretary James Mattis said the missile launched demonstrated North Korea had the ability to hit “everywhere in the world.” In response to the launch, Trump said the United States will “take care of it.” He told reporters after the launch: “It is a situation that we will handle.” He did not elaborate.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson strongly condemned the launch and called for redoubled international pressure on Pyongyang, saying that the US “remains committed to finding a peaceful path to denuclearization.” But he added a lightly veiled warning about limited US patience.
Prior to today’s launch, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had warned of devastating consequences if the US takes military action against North Korea. Pyongyang can batter Seoul with a barrage of conventional weapons, putting millions of South Koreans and more than 28,000 US troops stationed there within easy target range.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, speaking from Tokyo, issued a warning of his own. The latest missile launch, he said, “significantly undermines the strong determination of the international community’s peaceful resolution of the issue.”
International diplomacy swiftly kicked into high gear, with US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley requesting an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council with her counterparts from South Korea and Japan. That meeting is set to take place today afternoon.
South Korea demonstrated some of its efforts to prepare for North Korean hostilities on Tuesday. The country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the South Korean military had carried out a “precision missile strike drill” just minutes after North Korea’s launch.
The precision missile strike matched the flight distance of the North Korean missile and landed in waters off the east coast of South Korea.